Parents' Guide to Eliss

The object of ELISS is to create supernovas by sliding planets over “squeesars” -- circles within rings of 10 smaller circles -- of approximately similar size to make them go boom. Sounds simple, but there are plenty of obstacles to success. For starters, planets of similar color will join together and become bigger if they touch. Second, if planets of contrasting color collide your energy bar will begin quickly depleting. If it reaches zero, it’s game over.

Keeping planets sorted while watching for suitably sized squeesars to appear requires one’s complete attention; the game can end abruptly if your eyes stray from the screen even for a couple of seconds. As the game progresses you’ll need to make use of your device’s multitouch capabilities by employing several fingers to maneuver several colors of planets. Consequently, our biggest beef is the size of the screen on which the action plays out. It feels cramped. Eliss is a good game just waiting to be ported to a bigger platform, like the iPad (the game can be played on an iPad, but isn't customized for the larger screen size).