Naught

Naught
(Developed by Blue Shadow Games)
Available for: iOS
Price: Free
Originally published: September

Many mobile games have leveraged the iOS gyroscope to compelling effect, but Naught puts players through more twists and turns than a bag of pretzels: The user experience relies more on the gyroscope than any other iOS title I've played, employing basic principles of physics and gravity to offer an ingenious spin on conventional gameplay mechanics. You don't controlNaught's feline hero so much as you control the labyrinthine, black-and-white world he navigates, rotating the device in every conceivable direction to graduate from level to level and avoid a legion of subterranean dangers. It's both ridiculously simple yet frustratingly complex, the perfect recipe for repeat plays.

Oh, and about that cat: He's dead. Naught opens with a heartbreaking and beautiful comic-book prologue depicting the cat's burial--the creature is then reanimated by the Spirit of the Tree, who proclaims "The darkness is trying to destroy my roots. If you help me I will grant you what you long for." (Future updates promise to continue the narrative.) It's an intriguing approach that lends Naught emotional resonance far surpassing the average mobile title--it's only fitting that a game about gravity would boast some serious gravitas.