Flywrench

This arcade action title is good and refreshing, but at the same time, it's also weird and frustrating. In an age where so many video games are attempting to be self-serious artistic statements, it's nice to have a game that's meant only to be that: a game. You play as a tiny shape wth wings -- it insists this is "an aerobatic ship" -- and each button on your controller changes both the color of your ship and the aerodynamics of your wings. Your only goal on each level is to navigate through every differently colored barrier in your way, and you can only do so by matching that color.

As you can imagine, this quickly gets rather hectic and challenging. Pacing and finesse are both equally important and increasingly difficult to manage, as you must go faster and faster through some levels. For example, halfway through the game, you'll start running into purple windmills that run the length of the entire screen. Since you can't match that color, your only option is to rush through to the end. Other levels introduce yellow backgrounds, which slow you down. There are a few simple mechanics here on display, but they're all explored to full effect. The only real strike against the game is its occasional bugginess: As if traversing each color line wasn't hard enough, you can also sometimes find yourself flapping outside the level and having to kill yourself off to start again. That really sucks when it happens near the goal. Otherwise, the game is fun and won't break the bank, so it's definitely worth a spin for an approachable challenge.