Vortex Pool by Trool Studio is another soldier in the ranks of physics line-drawing games at the app store. If you are lame enough to play the games that come with Vista (like yours truly) the game will seem awfully similar to Ink Ball, but somewhat less fun. The rest of you will find that Vortex Pool is an original title for the iPhone and not without potential.

While I am an avid supporter of the less-is-more approach when it comes to UI, it seems that Trool Studio took this concept to another level. You get exactly what you see on the front screen – your high score, a brief set of instructions, and an offer to start the game. After exhausting all my options rather quickly, the silence (sorry folks, no soundtrack) finally got to me. Having seen nothing impressive (or satisfying) thus far, I thought that a generously endowed gameplay could make up for the slow start.

Your mission is to send any incoming yellow pucks into a green vortex; you accomplish your mission by drawing lines that will deflect the puck into the right direction. Around the perimeter of the field you have a brick wall that protects the pucks form getting lost in the universe. Each brick in that wall can only take a few hits; when you lose enough pucks the game is over. When the first puck hits a line or a wall, you will discover that the game does have sound effects; I think I was able to distinguish three different ones (no comment). The gameplay is monotonous and repetitive; the fact that the vortex keeps appearing in different places doesn’t help much. The pace of the game starts off way too easy and slow, and then becomes ridiculously frantic and fast; your level of interest literally jumps from wanting more to wanting less. The cool thing is that the state of the game is saved on quit, so you can pick up exactly where you left off.

Some games are just a lost cause; Vortex Pool is not one of them. In all honesty, Trool Studio can play some Ink Ball (on Vista), reproduce the gameplay in VP, add a soundtrack (no sound, really?!), and that’s it; the physics and graphics can very well remain as they are. For now, Vortex Pool gets a solid three-“could’ve been four”-dimple rating; in other words, get to work guys!

Review by Emil Frank

Vortex Pool gets our AppSmile 3-Dimple rating: