No new high scores last night, not that it really matters. It’s the journey, not the destination. (Man.)

Can you tell that I’m running out of things to say about these great-but-simple iPhone games? I mean, in Skybound you use your finger to draw clouds so a ball doesn’t fall off the bottom of the screen. It looks gorgeous, plays well, all that stuff I’ve mentioned a million times. What else is there to say, really?

Not only was it just as great as I remembered, but I got a new high score! Hooray!

Shame it seems to use the ringer volume for its sound effects, though. I hate it when games do that.

I’d like to say I completed that challenge after lots of hard work and perseverance, but it just popped up randomly one game. Still, hooray!

That long cloud at the bottom of the screen? It’s a power up you can get. I’m sure you can work out its purpose.

Lovely, ain’t they?

And now for a very special bonus image.

You see what’s special about it? Yes, it’s me getting a new high score. Unfortunately, taking the screen shot killed me. I hope you’re happy.

Stop. Okay, let’s stop comparing Skybound to other games. Let’s start with the basics. There’s a ball on the screen. Your goal is to get the ball as high as possible by drawing clouds for it to bounce off. If the ball hits the clouds, it bounces up. If it doesn’t, it will fall off the bottom of the screen and it’s game over.

In the screen shot above I’ve managed to bounce my ball off the top of the screen and I’ve not yet drawn any clouds. Two things should strike you. One, the graphics are all kinds of hand-drawn loveliness. They’re lovely like a lady waving her hair around in a field in a shampoo commercial. They’re lovely like the smell of freshly-baked bread. You get the idea.

The second thing that should strike you is that there’s other stuff on the screen. Helpful golden clouds and annoying wooden things that turn your ball red and get rid of its bounce. Stuff like that. I won’t go through the entire list of objects, but just know that they’re all well-considered and work as part of the game.

In this picture I’m going to die because my ball’s at the bottom of the screen and I’ve been too busy trying to take a screenshot to draw any clouds. Dear me.

Anyway, here’s another great thing about Skybound. Your high score is always displayed at the bottom left, your current score at the top right. If you beat your top score as you’re playing, another number appears below your current score showing how much better than your previous high score you are. As a high score kind of guy, I really like that. You can also sync your own high scores online. It’s been a bit flakey for me, but it worked after a few tries.

I’ve not mentioned Boss mode, yet. I’ve only tried it out once, but the idea here is to hit enemies and get points for killing them, rather than just going up and up and up. It seems like a nice diversion, but the main game is where it’s at, I think.

Anyway, a fairly long post. I could just have told you to go buy the game – because you should. I said I’d buy it the moment it dropped to 59p and last night it did. I was as good as my word and I don’t regret the purchase for a single second. I played on the sofa. I played in bed. I wish I could play it now. Go buy, you won’t regret it.

Metal Gear Solid Touch Lite – Very much enjoyed this. Drag your sights around the screen to shoot enemies, the catch being that when you’re moving the sights and shooting you can be shot, but when you’re still you go into cover. I’d very much like the full version, but £4.99 feels steep when it used to cost £3.49.

I Love Katamari Lite – Haven’t quite got used to the tilt controls. Not sure I ever could. I need to play it more, see if it ever becomes comfortable.

Eliss Lite – A game that wouldn’t work on any platform other than the iPhone, which makes it something of a novelty. It’s meant to be good, but the demo is too short and the instructions make no sense at all. I’m interested, but not rushing off to buy.

My Brute Lite – Very limited demo. I play the web version every day, so an iPhone version would seem like an immediate buy, but £2.99 just feels too expensive. £1.79 or less and I’m there… though I may well cave and buy it soon anyway.

Tangled Lite – Untangle stuff. Can’t get my head around it at all and only solve puzzles by fluke. For clever people, though, I can see this being decent.

Unblock Me Free – Great little puzzle game that works perfectly and requires actual thinking. Good stuff.

Skybound Lite – Last but far from least, this is a lovely little game that reminds me off a flash game from a year or two ago where you had to collect bells, or something. A ball falls down the screen, you draw clouds underneath it so it bounces back up, you see how high you can go. Great little demo. I’d buy the full version for 59p in an instant and will probably pay the current price (£1.19 I think) before too long.