Germanium, developed by Edamame, and compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch (iOS 7.0 or later), is entertainment stripped down to the core. In the app store, the description promises a 100 second challenge that, "will utterly destroy every bit of gamer pride in you." It almost mocks you stating that it was only cleared twice during pre-release testing, then points out the simple tilt controls and basic graphics, even describing itself as "exceedingly simple." Listed in the iTunes store for $1.29, it's well worth trying out this highly addictive, if frustrating game.
In and of itself, this is a very simple game. Even the title screen, which contains the title, "Start game," and "Touch to start" is stripped bare. The goal of Germanium is simply to guide a white ball past colorful blocks, and survive for 100 seconds. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Each new color of block presents a new and different challenge as time goes on. The tilt control is very fluid and reactive, making it easy to keep control of the ball.
For about the first fifteen seconds, I figured I would easily conquer this challenge, then, over the course of the next thirty, everything went downhill. Both sides allow the ball to go off-screen to the left and appear on the right and vice versa, helping to avoid the more colorful, daunting blocks as they increase in number, movement and size. It was extremely fast-paced, frustrating, addictive, and fun all wrapped into about 40-60 seconds at a time.
The only negative I experienced was at about 50 seconds in, my iPhone screen would automatically dim. This is easily fixable by either touching your finger to the screen, or disabling Auto-Lock in the general settings.
For only $1.29, the highly addictive Germanium is well worth the price. A short, concise distraction that won't run over 100 seconds is perfect for a handheld device as a way to kill time. Of course, any game that willingly calls out prospective players is definitely begging to be beaten.
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