Canabalt / iPhone: $2.99 or free

Canabalt (iPhone or web) is a fun little game about a character who runs. It isn’t said what he’s running from, or why, but it’s clear that he has to bound from building to building, avoiding crates and crashing through windows, to escape some horrible fate.

There is just enough design to make it pretty, and no more. The direction seems to be a nod to old Mac games — all bitty and gray-scale:

It’s a twitch game — you only control the jumping. The obstacles and platforms are random, so any single session might be more or less difficult than the last. As a result, it won’t be for everybody. But, since it’s free on the web or $2.99 on an iPhone, it’s easy enough to find out if it’s right for you.

Here’s what the gameplay looks like.

In its 8.0 review, IGN called it “a wonderful twitch game that strikes the right balance between skill and luck.”