Alright, so I’m going to recommend an iPhone game to you. Hardly original, I’m aware. In fact, a recent study found that approximately 50% of all human communication is solely for the purpose of recommending new iPhone apps. But just shut up and listen, because this is a really really good one.

It’s a stylish little game called Drop7 – and it’s utterly wonderful. The premise is simple enough; drop numbered discs down from the top, into a 7x7 grid. When the number on a disc matches the total number of discs in a row or column, that disc disappears.  It’s immediately quite easy to get to grips with, but the level of depth and strategy that unfolds is superb – particularly in the ‘hardcore’ mode, in which discs are constantly being added from the bottom at an alarming rate.

Strangely enough though, what I enjoy most about Drop7 is the fact that it simple isn’t fair. You never get a glance at the next piece you’re going to be given – which leaves little room for long-term strategy – and the numbers on the discs you drop or uncover as you go along are entirely random. Long story short – occasionally you’ll run into some serious good luck, but eventually you’ll find yourself fairly shafted by an unbreakable wall of 1’s and 2’s.

What makes Drop7 so wonderfully compulsive despite the cruelty is the way it handles the game over screen; emphasis each time being clearly placed how this affects your overall average score. The effect this has is curiously profound – with each game being treated as an exercise in making the best of a bad situation, rather than aiming for the lofty heights of your previous high-scores; a frustrating process that’s usually signals the death of any leaderboard based game. It’s a tiny change, but the impact is incredibly – creating a game that’s not about winning, but about doing the best you can with what you’ve been given. The result is a game that’s hugely enjoyable even when you’re losing horribly: Play it just right and you can probably squeeze another 20,000 points out before you hit that inevitable game over screen.

Anyway - whilst the rest of the world mindlessly squawks about the merits/failings of launching birds into poorly made structures, I’ve been fanatically going back to Drop 7 on an almost daily basis for the best part of 4 months. If that’s not recommendation enough, then I’ve really no idea how you ended up stumbling here.