Developer: the FABRIK
Genre: Space/Gravity Sim/Hard to Classify
Price: $1.99 (Lite Version Available)
Verdict: A well-done title, but it may not be for everyone – give the Lite version a try.
Pros: Retro style, cool concept, Very precise controls
Cons: Level of precision and challenge necessary may frustrate many.

In space, no one can hear you go completely mad. This is good, because Lunarcy is quite the swear-tastic game for the iPhone. This game is very properly named, because it will drive you insane.

Lunarcy’s goal is simple. You’re a green ship from a green planet. You have to dock with the blue supply ships and get back to your planet intact. Sounds easy enough, right? YOU’RE WRONG. This game is a devil in waiting. See, this is a game of gravity – it affects everything, as objects are in orbit, and you have to use enough fuel to escape the planet’s gravity. You’ll have your supply ships orbiting around the planet, usually coming in at weird angles, so you have to launch your ship properly in order to dock with it, and sometimes you’ll have to avoid other orbiting objects, and sometimes you have multiple ships to dock with (thankfully, you can land on the planet between docks so you can refill your fuel and health). Oh, and when you dock with ships, you lock on to it and you’re flying through space with them, so you have that extra physics wrinkle to worry about as you try to land safely back on your home planet. There’s a lot standing between you and glory.

And this is a game that requires perfection – you have a very limited margin of error in this game. It’s about conserving your fuel, timing your launches so you can dock with the supply ships, coming up with good strategies once you’ve docked to get back to the home planet – this is a very meticulous game; every action has a consequence, as everything has an action cost, even straightening up your ship costs fuel. You have to plan everything you do, and you WILL have to replay each level a lot in order to master it. Thankfully, the controls work solidly – it’s very easy to be able to just quickly tap to make just small adjustments to use up very little fuel, or to just barely turn one direction, or very quickly use the rotation stabilizer. The game also runs very smoothly, with no slowdown at all. This is entirely you and your skills versus the game’s challenges.

So in many ways the question isn’t whether Lunarcy is the game for you, but whether you’re the game for it. This game requires a lot of patience and precision that many gamers may not be willing to put up with. I uttered enough profanities while playing this game to make many baby angels cry. You think you’re just so close to beating that level, but you just barely miss your target, and it can be frustrating. This game asks a lot of its players, and you may not be up for it. If you value your games as a challenge, then Lunarcy is definitely worth checking out. If you value your games as more of a fun experience that isn’t supposed to frustrate or annoy you, then it’s hard to recommend Lunarcy. At worst, Lunarcy’s only $1.99, features 48 challenging levels (that thankfully you can play in a non-linear fashion), and is well-done, so if it at all interests you, it’s worth a shot – at least give the Lite version a try. Just know it may not be for you.

Congrats! You made it to the end of the review! You’re something else, kid. Your reward? Leave us a funny comment about space. A joke, an anecdote, Star Trek quotes, whatever. Best entry by September 17th 8:00 PM EDT wins a free copy of Lunarcy. Neat!