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Category: Games
Developer: Playtoniq
Requirements: iPhone 2.0 software
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod Touch
File Size: 1.1MB
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Price: $0.99 (free demo available)
Age Rating: 4+

Just Fillin’, a new iPhone/iPod touch game, reminds me of Qix, one of my favorite arcade games. In the former, you tried to fill the screen by drawing boxes without your unfinished line being touched by a swirling, twisting enemy. In JF, your goal is to raise the level of a small amount of water to the top of the screen by making bubbles.

You start a bubble by touching the screen, and the longer you hold it, the bigger the bubble, the more water you displace, and the bigger your bonus is. Of course, there’s an obstacle—Spikey balls which bounce around the screen. If they touch your bubble before you lift your finger, it pops, but once you’ve created it, the spikeys can’t burst it, and can also become trapped underneath it. Each level, another spikey is added, and you have a limited number of bubbles and “pops” before the game is over.

Just Fillin’ is one of those simple, frenetic games that seems to eat up so much of my time. It’s simple to learn and very addictive, even though once you get to the higher levels, strategy kind of goes out the window as you hunt the screen for some small place, any place to make even the smallest bubble. The game is bright and simply though colorfully designed (though some levels are a bit garish—neon green and pink!), and the only complaint I have is that part of what makes it so much fun to play (touching the screen to make a bubble) also makes it hard to play (your fingers can get in the way and prevent you from seeing the spikeys). I ended up playing this “simple” game with both hands, contorting my fingers so that they wouldn’t get in the way of the screen, which makes for some awkward moments on the bus ride home.

The paid version features unlimited levels, a hard mode, and the ability to start from any level. There’s also a free, limited version available where you can try out the first eight levels.

All in all, Just Fillin’ is one of those great, mindless time killers that you can play anywhere, anytime when you have time to kill, which ends up being something you’re playing all the time just so you can finish one… more… level…