Chuck The Ball Hands-On

Chuck The Ball, from Makeshift Games, looks a lot like any number of other iPhone maze-running games... until you actually start to play it!

Chuck, a soccer ball with expressive cartoon eyes, moves straight forward until he hits something, be it a wall, a collectible star, or a hazard. Chuck's really good at following instructions, however. When he runs into an arrow, he'll change directions accordingly.

So, Chuck The Ball is a game of indirect control; you essentially "program" each level by laying down arrows with finger swipes, so that Chuck picks up all the stars within the time limit while avoiding hazards.

It's easier said than done, in our limited experience with the game. We started on the Medium difficulty levels, and found that there's usually only a moment or two between Chuck and disaster, meaning that you get very little time to place those arrows where you want them. Nevertheless, it's interesting enough for us to keep playing.

Chuck The Ball is $2.99 in the App Store.