Recurse Review

Recurse deserves to win many, many points for originality. I can't think of anything else like it for iOS, instead being something usually associated with the Nintendo Wii or Xbox 360's Kinect.

Recurse is a party game, pure and simple as that. Players have to hit the green areas displayed on screen, while avoiding the red areas. Instead of doing this with their fingers and tapping furiously, the game uses the iPad's front facing camera to enable players to use their whole body for the experience.

It takes a little practice, of course, both in terms of getting high scores and for getting things aligned just right. As the game explains, it's vital to put the iPad on a stable surface reasonably high up and somewhere where it's easy to stand a short distance away. Then it's just a matter of waving just right and racking up the points.

There aren't many different modes of play to Recurse, with Shuffle, Slide and Survival the sole options, but it's sufficient. Shuffle and Slide involve grabbing as many green blocks as possible within the time limit, with the direction affected by which mode. Survival is never ending, with the game ending when a player hits a red block three times.

Players will look utterly ridiculous as they compete for better scores. This is reinforced by the fact that the game shows you what moves you're making. There's no competitive multiplayer mode but it's easy enough to compare scores which is all that's really needed.

Recurse will never prove popular when played alone, but it comes into its own with a group of friends or while entertaining the kids. It's energetic and lively, and there really is nothing else like it for the iPad.