Geometric shapes move towards a coloured ball. You just have to move the ball and dodge the shapes. Easy. Were it not for one tiny detail, Duet might be almost too simple.
Except.. there are two balls. The clue is in the title and the way you beat each level has as much to do with choreography as it does with lightning-fast twitch reactions.
Your two balls, red and blue, are fixed on opposite sides of a thin ring and they move in concert. You rotate the ring clockwise or anti-clockwise by tapping and holding a finger on either side of the screen. In each level, white shapes move slowly towards the balls and you rotate the ring to move the balls out of the way.
The paint splats persist as you retry the level as markers of your failure, cranking the frustration levelThe balls react quickly and smoothly to a touch on either side of the screen but it's easy to overshoot. You can sometimes correct your mistake with a tap to the other side of the screen if you keep your wits about you. This is a game played with two hands.
If you make a mistake and hit one of the advancing white shapes then the offending ball leaves a red or blue splat of paint on its pristine white surface and the game "rewinds" the shapes back up the screen to the start. The paint splats persist as you retry the level as markers of your failure, cranking the frustration level just a tiny bit higher each time.
That's sort of it. There is a kind of plot, or at least a theme to the levels and the premium version has extra challenge levels. Paying for the premium game also removes the annoying adverts which pop up every couple of levels or so.
So, the game is a bit samey and you either like this blend of puzzle and action or you don't, but if it does click with you then there's a lot to love. The soundtrack, by Australian composer Tim Shiel, is superb, making your frantic movements feel almost like a dance and definitely contributing to the game's addictive, one-more-try feel. The challenge is tough and unless you have supernaturally good reflexes you'll end up gnashing your teeth.
- Duet is out now. Developed and Published by Kumobious. Android/IOS
- Read other gaming reviews on theartsdesk
Stuart Houghton on Twitter
