Helsing’s Fire is one of those games that has such a inventive gameplay idea that you wonder why nobody else thought of it first. Certainly, we’ve played games in which you must reflect a beam of light from A to C via B, but none that have explored light and shadow.

The task at hand is to expose the creatures of the Shadow Blight by using your trusty torch, then extinguish them by using three different tonics—red, green and blue. The torch dynamically lights the surroundings, casting shadows on stone columns and small fortifications, and as you only have a limited supply of tonic you must find the spot that will deal the most damage to the surrounding creeps. However, you must use only the tonic that corresponds to the enemy colour otherwise they will be able to erect a barrier of that colour around themselves. Later in the game, many enemies have one or more barriers around them so that you have to expend more tonic on them; therefore, you use the stonework around you to shield certain enemies so that you can make best use of your supplies.

Enemies come in a variety of different forms, steadily introduced over the course of the game’s three areas. Your basic rats don’t pack much of a punch, but you have skeletons that take a swipe at your torch if it draws near them, bats that fly off to a new spot if attacked, ghosts that vanish when your light shines in their direction and mummies that let out a powerful burst of darkness when attacked that will eradicate your torch if you get it in the way. Additionally, there are werewolves that turn into fair maidens once hit with tonic; you mustn’t let any tonic touch a maiden or you’ll have to restart the level.

Many of the earlier puzzles focus on the best torch placement possible, and are fairly easy as a result. However, once you move onto the latter half of the game, you’ll discover many of the levels require quick reflexes in order to dodge the various projectiles that enemies shoot at you. Happily, you can simply tap an area of the screen to warp to that position, as long as there isn’t an obstacle in the way.

In addition to the main game, there is a survival mode that is unlocked when you beat each area; so that you can choose the terrain type that you’re fighting on. You get a certain amount of seconds per round depending on the difficulty (puzzles from the first area are the easiest, the last area has the hardest puzzles), with enough tonic to complete the puzzle; beat that and you get additional seconds to whatever time you have left over. We really liked the quick fire nature of this mode as it’s a great change of pace from the slow, measured approach you use on most of the puzzles in the game.

Although the visuals are somewhat simplistic, Helsing’s Fire manages to make the best of them. There’s all sorts of nice little visual effects; of course, the fire from the torch and the light it shines on the field; but also, the enemies enlargen as the light shines on them; each successful completion results in two hands making a congratulatory gesture between Professor Helsing and his assistant, Raffton (a really fun touch); even the map is fully animated, with fog that lifts as you slay Dracula’s horde of minions. We also love the dialogue that appears between the two characters and various enemies throughout the game. Plus, iOS 4 fast switching is supported here, making load times feel like a thing of the past.

We don’t think you should pass up on this fantastic little puzzle game. For 59p you get 90 levels, plus many more random ones in the Survival mode; a fun story mode with Crystal achievements and online scoring; and of course gameplay that is ideal for when you’re on the go with fast switching and levels that usually are less than a minute in length. Ultimately, Helsing’s Fire proves that you can still have a blast even if you only have a small budget.

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