With Apple now marketing the iPhone and iPod touch as portable gaming devices, the App Store is becoming more and more saturated with games. Some are good, some are average, and some a plain woeful. Along with fuel calculators and to-do list managers, games must be the main category of applications available.

So, what makes a good iPhone game? There’s all-sorts available, ranging from card games to racing games to flight simulators, all with varying degrees of success. Personally, what I want from an iPhone game is something I can pick up and play for a couple of minutes while waiting for the car to be washed, or while sat waiting for a bus. Something that doesn’t involve you waving your iPhone around like a loon like most of the racing games out there !

This is where Tap ‘n’ Slide comes in. Creators Mobile Pie describe the game play as

… simple - the player must complete a sequence of moves against the clock by tapping, sliding, or spinning their finger on the touch screen. As the timer speeds up the play gets more and more frantic!

And that’s basically it. If this game wasn’t on the iPhone I’m sure it would find a home on the Nintendo DS. It’s one of those games that, although you don’t seem to be doing much, you find yourself wanting ‘just one more go’ on. In fact, my girlfriend found it more interesting than talking to me on a recent visit to the local drinking hold !

To keep you coming back there’s a high-score leader board too, which just means I’ll be sat there trying to beat my own score constantly. It would be nice if these scores were pulled from the internet though.

Tap ‘n’ Slide is exactly what an iPhone game should be, and I congratulate the guys over at Mobile Pie.

Tap ‘n’ Slide is available from the iTunes app store right here for £0.59