Tiny Wings
Andreas Illiger
Not-So-Endless Runner
$0.99/£0.59

With Easter coming up soon, I decided to sink my teeth into the first title by Andreas Illiger. In Tiny Wings, you play as a small bird who is learning to fly by sliding down hills to propel himself off the other side. The gameplay is one of the simplest and addictive I’ve seen on the App Store in a long time.

A simple tap of the screen will set gravity in motion as the chick plummets to earth, gaining momentum on his decent of the slope. To gain both speed and height, you must remove your finger on his climb up the hill. Doing so will send the bird skyward. Many ways of gaining your score include collecting coins, performing perfect slides, and touching the clouds that line the top of the screen. Speaking of the screen, every inch of the display is filled with a gorgeous water coloured style, with vibrant landscapes, and a stylish background, complete will a falling sun as time grows increasingly precious.

Every so often, you will travel far enough to progress to the next island. There are a ton of islands with their own unique landscapes and colour schemes, each providing their own challenge as the slopes alternate in angles. The game does not continue forever, though. At the start of the game, your chick wakes up at the crack of dawn. You must travel as far as possible in the span of a day. The second the night catches up with the bird, he will fall asleep and your final score is given.

Despite the game not continuing forever, the premise of an endless runner still lingers. It feels like the game should continue for as long as you are going at a decent speed, and if you slowed down to a crawl, the night would approach almost instantly. But, alas, the title is still enjoyable, especially the targets set for the game. These targets are from as simple as landing a perfect jump after changing islands, to grabbing two hundred coins in one run. There is only about five of these, and achieving them is simple, but I’m sure more will be added in a future update.

I can’t really recommend this game enough. It is fun and addictive enough for both casual gamers after a fix and the more hardcore audience looking to beat their previous scores. For a mere 99c/59p, it’s the perfect time waster for anyone.