I sometimes worry I’m too easy of a reviewer; that I dish out fours and fives by default, remember only the good parts of games, glossing over the rough edges, and just generally giving designers the benefit of the doubt. Then I run into games like Pitz and Pang, now out for the iPhone and iPod touch. It’s not that they’re bad games, it’s just that the controls are so wonky—for both of them— that I feel like I’m fighting with the interface rather than the game itself.

It’s easy to have a challenging puzzle, but if the gameplay doesn’t keep your attention, the concept falls flat. Conversely, you can take a simple idea, add an interesting twist, and suddenly it’s a compelling game offering hours of enjoyment. This roundup includes a little of both, as the game I expected to enjoy the most didn’t come through, and the one I expected to blow off held my attention and became a fun game that will stay on my iPhone for some time to come.