It’s safe to say that NimbleBit’s latest creation is a step up from their previous works; the execution here is more sophisticated, professional and aesthetically pleasing but the concept is just as simple. You have to navigate a moonlit pond as a frog leaping from lilypad to lilypad by tapping anywhere on the screen. Each pad spins around at an increasingly dizzying rate, getting smaller as you move further forward, wherein lies the challenge of the game; quick reflexes are everything.

Risky play is rewarded with flowers that blossom on the pads that you jump past, but of course your frog’s reach isn't infinite, so you must take care not to fall in the water. By playing smartly you’ll build up a stock of lives early on to help overcome the difficult lilypads later on in the game. And playing well earns you awards that translate into differently coloured frogs that you can choose from whenever you want to start a new game.

Dizzypad is all about the details; the rippling water, dragonflies hovering above, koi carp milling around, and some sunken debris including old click wheel iPods, and what looks like a license plate that spells out Scoops. It doesn’t disappoint in the audio department either, with some great sound effects for splashing water and frog chirrups that permeate the midnight setting. It is also the first game from the developer that sports a social gaming platform—here it is Plus+ that powers the high score tables and awards.

Overall it is another solid game from NimbleBit and sits very tidily amongst all of their other titles. The difficulty curve is just right, the control scheme efficient and the presentation certainly a cut above, but once you’ve mastered all the awards there’s little reason to keep playing. The game is as simple as you can see from the video—hopping from pad to pad, watching lifeforms dwelling in the surroundings, but there’s not a huge amount more. For some it just may be too simplistic, but if the overall quality and execution here is indicative of things to come, we haven’t seen the best of NimbleBit yet this year.

Media gallery

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More by this developer

Fishtropolis, C

Review by Ben Briggs, January 05, 2010

Moon Drop, B

Review by Ben Briggs, July 20, 2009

Bluebird, D

Review by Ben Briggs, June 13, 2009

Sky Burger, A

Review by Ben Briggs, April 21, 2009

Textropolis, B

Review by Ben Briggs, March 11, 2009

Scoops, B

Review by Ben Briggs, January 15, 2009

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