If you're big on reducing your carbon footprint, bringing the war on climate change, or are simply interested in an ecologically themed iPhone puzzle game, Gaia is the solution. Well, to the last problem at least - although perhaps one of the iPhone's strengths is it's digital distribution mechanism which is very efficient compared to the old methods of pressing, printing, boxing and shipping. But I digress.

When first loading up Gaia, you will notice the almost strange absence of any English from the main menu screen. With the exception of the logo and copyright text, all of the elements in Gaia are language neutral - which means you will see symbols instead of words for the most part. This even extends into the high score screen, where you must sign your score with your fingertips. The game even remembers how you signed, animating a miniature you on the leader board. This works really well, and you can ascertain that Quicksand Interactive have done a great job presentation wise. However, there's no sort of tutorial (a good way to do this would be some diagrams accessible from the main menu) - so you must either play through blindly or hit their website and get an English description. It's swings and roundabouts really, but having an in game description is much more preferable to an online one.

In Gaia, the goal is to collate groups of three or more, with subsequent pieces forming large structures within a level. Tilting your iPhone controls the flow of new pieces, and can also slide around tiles if there is any void space. The strategy is to clear out smaller matches to extend your large ones - because each group accumulates score as it's on the board, it's advantageous to start very small and then build up to a screen filling set. Scores are also helped along by set multipliers, which appear at random, and the big bonus you will get if you clear the whole board once the level is complete. That's not all there is to it though, there's also some hazardous tiles which will disrupt your happy go lucky eco matching - toxins and biohazards can be dropped off the screen, but radiation cannot, and so you must be astute in finding ways to create matches whilst avoiding these dangers.

Part of Gaia's charm comes from it's elegant library of scenic pieces - leaves, water, clouds, stone and more. When grouped together, the tiles change to an intertwined whole, and flash white, which is a nice touch. Levels are exquisitely rendered in a handful of these patterns, and they manage to keep the game fresh even after multiple play through sessions - as does the scattering of bonus levels which pit you against the clock. The concept here is the same though, so you can expect to get huge points for taking your time and making one large match as opposed to a couple dozen smaller matches. Rounding off the game's presentation are the minimal, yet zen like sound effects. Rainsticks and ambient chimes are the theme of the moment here, and they work well. There's no music, and that could help extend the peaceful mood the game will send you into.

Nevertheless, this is one accelerometer enhanced puzzler we can recommend - and that's because of sensible design (you can only slide left/right/up/down) which means that you could be engrossed with it in a car (like we have!) for a few hours. It may not have multiple modes, but the one Gaia does have is varied enough to come back to again and again. If nothing else, it's only £1.79 and won't break the bank. Give it a shot!

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