Paper Toss App for iPod: The Ultimate In Lost Productivity

For years and years, I've been running a blog called Lost Productivity, a Blogspot site dedicated to the purest forms of slacking around.  In it I've written on Flash games and YouTube videos, but with my friend's gift of an iPod Touch for Christmas, my slack-off reports will soon be going mobile.

Some of the apps I've downloaded require a surprising amount of work to enjoy.  Mega Man 2's tiny control pad left me high and dry at Air Man and Heat Man, the various board games I've added require strategy and patience, and the remainder require a wi-fi connection, which I can only get two towns away.

What a joy, then, to find Paper Toss, by Backflip Studios.  It's nothing but you, an office/airport/basement setting, infinite crumpled paper, and a wastebasket.  Well, okay, complicating this Zen-like experience of throwing paper wad after paper wad are a scoreboard and options menu, but this perfect waste of time is as addictive as fishing in World of Warcraft or playing Beirut.

To keep the game from being boring, you're given a random breeze strength and direction, left or right.  Occasionally you'll have a fan pop up on either side of you, giving you some serious pneumatic grief.  A wind speed of 0 to .75 is usually a straight shot, .75 through 4 requires a mild hook, and anything over 4 requires a fair knowledge of trajectories.

What could be a boring and short-lived game is spruced up with fast reloads and fun play mechanics and sound effects.  Every shot into the can is rewarded with a hollow metallic thunk.  Edge hits will either make different sounds, and land in the can with remaining inertia, or merit a crowd "Awwwww!" if you've been on a streak of 5 or more.  If you keep the streak going, you get a scattering of applause perfectly suited to a golf tournament.  Edge hits happen quite a bit, making toss after toss a, well, toss-up.  Backflip has also done a great job making sure you don't have to grind across the surface of your iPod with every launch.  Instead of fussing with shot strength, all you have to do is choose the firing angle.  It works very pleasingly.

While this is all going on, you can also get some pretty real-sounding office ambience, complete with ringing phones, frenzied keyboarding, and hushed chatter.  Just ignore it; after all, you're trying not to work here.  Or you can hang out at the airport, with airport announcements and ambient bustle, or hunker down in the basement with what sounds like rain.

Graphics: A-.  Simple, pleasing and non-obtrusive.  Sure, they're rendered, but just keep your eye on the paper ball and you won't notice them.

Gameplay: A.  Perfect for those times between appointments, obligations and routines.  You can quit after every two-second throw.  But you likely won't want to.

Sound: A.  Never too obnoxious or canned-sounding,

Originality: B+.  It's a trajectory game; you could compare it to Air-Sea Battle for improving on the theme, but there's no need.

Controls: A.  Very ergonomic without being exacting.

Overall: A.  What more do you want for free? :D

Lionel Houde publishes his goof-off blog, Lost Productivity, whenever he gets around to it.  But he's usually distracted. :)