Although looking very much like a match3 puzzle, Pinch 'n Pop is actually a frantic, fast paced arcade game with a two finger twist. The goal is to cull your Squirm population by pinching them together, and if too many fill up the screen it's game over. It's an interesting gameplay mechanic that works pretty well, but can wear out your fingers if not played with a little bit of strategic thought.

By pinching two matching coloured Squirms together, you create a larger Squirm. Colliding that Squirm with another large Squirm (or a regular sized Squirm) removes it from the board for points. You'll get more points for two large Squirms, but you have to be careful because the larger Squirms can explode and create more Squirms in the process, whilst new ones are spawning every so often into the playing field. In addition, you'll encounter rainbow Squirms which match any colour, and a few power ups such as a nuke, which wipes the board, a colour eraser, and a power up that changes the colour of several Squirms on the board at once.

As the developer notes, it's a futile task trying to pinch 'n pop the whole board, and instead it's best to aim for chains of the same colour. For example, if red is the predominant Squirm on the field, then pinching all of those together will net you more points than popping at random. By extending your chain past multiple spawns you can accumulate big points, but you also run the risk of overloading the board with colours that you can't match inside your chain. The temptation is to break the chain, but in fact the power ups do help in managing the rest of the field. There's occasions where you may have to frantically pinch the whole lot, but if you play sensibly, they're not so common.

Pinch 'n Pop is extremely well presented, like an arcade game should look. Each Squirm is beautifully animated, and has a range of facial expressions, such looking dazed when a power up goes off, or bored when you're doing nothing. Power ups go off with a suitable aplomb, and although there's no music, there's enough going on in the sound effects to hold your interest. The whole package shows a brilliantly designed, colourful style that looks great on the iPhone.

But ultimately, the game's shortcoming is it's repetitive nature. Sure, it's a great experience for the first few times you play through, and it feels extremely intuitive - however unless you are a high score junkie, there's not enough to do. There's only one mode, and no achievements or statistics. Be that as it may, it's still professionally presented, and for short bursts it's a decent little time waster.

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Review by Tom Grimes, December 15, 2009

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