Mobile Game of the Week - Funky Smugglers

Key Features:

• Developer - 11 bit Studios
• Platforms - iOS and Android
• Devices tested - Samsung Galaxy S3, iPhone 4
• Price - 69p

Funky Smugglers

Who'd have thought airport security could be this fun? In fact, who though airport security could be fun at all? In Funky Smugglers, you play a customs agent operating a metal detector in the 1970s. But although that sounds like the set-up for a Mike Leigh film, this is in fact a colourful, funny and compulsive game for iOS and Android that'll test you reflexives and keep you giggling.

The gameplay consists of checking people's X-rays as they go through your detector and then using your finger on the touch screen to grab any contraband they might be carrying (ranging from a man with a pair of scissors stuck in his hair to a grandma carrying a grenade) and drag it off screen. You get higher points if you can chain these together, so getting and moving items in quick succession is the name of the game.

Holy Trinity

You'll have to be dextrous, though: Funky Smuggler's is like a game of Twister for your fingers. And it's difficult as well. Fumble that grenade and it'll go off, spelling game over. The higher your score goes, the faster the music gets and the more frantic the game becomes. The sedate pace you'd expect at Aberdeen airport quickly turns into a busy day at LAX as you start racking up points, and unless you've got fingers like a guitarist, Funky Smuggler's is a ruddy challenge.

It looks great as well. The eponymous funkiness is certainly present and correct, with loud colours, chunky shapes and bouncy animations. There's also a pass the controller multiplayer mode, a la Worms, where you swap between players to see who can rack up the most points before dying. There are also power-ups to unlock such as Magnetism, which lets you grab all the metallic objects off of passengers just by waggling your finger near them.

Funky Smugglers is fun, bright and compelling - the Holy Trinity of mobile games. If you have the option, we recommend you get it for Android rather than iOS since it was ported there after the iPhone version with a visual touch-up in the process. Regardless of what you play it on, though, Funky Smugglers is a winner.

Score: 9/10

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