Daily iPhone App: Starbloom is musical mystery magic

Starbloom, the first iOS title from Shadegrown Games, isn't exactly the biggest or most content-filled title on the App Store this year. There are only five levels in the game, each with an original song to play through, and the menus mostly consist of some text against a black starfield.

But I think this is a game that's more than the sum of its parts: the graphics and design, along with that really amazing soundtrack, make this a musical experience that you probably shouldn't miss. The "game" here is really the weakest part. You guide a sort of comet-like object around the screen, trying to collect rings of little widgets for points. But when you collect each of those objects, you add a musical sound to each track, and the experience kind of ascends to something else -- a musical instrument governed by orbital motion.

Starbloom might not be for you, and that's fine. There are definitely better values for your money on the App Store. But for US$0.99, it's an experience worth having.