Went back to Orbital after some time away last night and tried to get a new high score in Pure mode. I upped my high score on the new phone, but it’s pathetic next to the score I had on my old phone. Anyway, the game’s great fun and is well worth buying.


Do you see what I did there?

Shoot me now.

Actually, the most interesting thing about Orbital is probably the rhythm of it. You can’t control the cannon at the bottom of the screen, so you need to wait for it to be pointing in the right direction. All the waiting should make the game feel relaxing, but the knowledge that a single badly-placed shot can end your game makes the game feel… oh, I don’t know. Sometimes I get impatient and wish I could aim the cannon myself. Sometimes I get unsure of myself and find myself unable to shoot. Sometimes I get tired of waiting and shoot the ball of in whatever direction the cannon happens to be facing. There’s really no coherent feeling to the game. Sometimes it grabs me by the balls and squeezes, sometimes it feels like I’m standing at a counter waiting for an especially slow fast food order – often both in the course of a single game.

And yet it never loses the “one more go” factor, because you always, always, always know that you messed up, either through incompetence or impatience. The game is very harsh, but it never feels like it wants you to fail. Some games have a relationship, even a rapport, with the player. Orbital is just there, cold as outer space and completely unconcerned with whether you live or die.