Rickle is a casual game based on one of the simplest activities known to humanity – an act so simple that you were probably pretty good at it before your first birthday: stacking.
It’s not the first mobile game to be based on the ancient art of stacking, but it might just be the most relaxing, accessible, and downright addictive. And it’s definitely the most benevolent, since a portion of its proceeds go to three high profile environmental charities.
To support these charities – the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Environmental Working Group – all you need to do is play the game.
So what does that involve? We’ve already told you: stacking. You’re presented with a slab of rock, and more slabs of rock keep sliding in from left and right. The aim is to tap the screen when one of these slabs is directly above the stack.
Of course, not every tap will be perfect. Sometimes you’ll tap slightly too early or late, meaning the floating slab fails to land squarely on the stack. This leaves an overhang that promptly gets shaved off, reducing the girth of the stack and making it harder to land the next slab. And so on until you fail.
Except you haven’t really failed, because your score is added to your cumulative total, and as that number passes certain milestones you unlock new worlds – gorgeous, stylised backdrops and new slabs that move at different speeds.
You’ve also got a personal record to chase. It hovers in the top-right of the screen, and if you’re really determined to top it you can use three different consumable power-ups.
Future updates will add to the ten existing locations (each with a day and night version) as well, so this is a high-score chaser that will keep you entertained for some time to come.
You can download Rickle right now on Android and iOS. There’s an official site to check out too.