Ever since the announcement of the App Store, the iPhone has been getting a lot of attention as the next big gaming platform. It seems like every major upcoming game has a special iPhone spinoff. I’ll be honest, I have my doubts about the iPhone as some sort of gaming messiah. There is only so much that you can do without buttons. Very few DS games have managed to pull off touchscreen-only controls, and I suspect the same will be true of the iPhone. That said, there are still some incredible gaming efforts coming to the platform. My current favorite game on the phone also happens to be free – Aurora Feint.

The core of the game is a puzzle “mine” where you complete combos to earn “resources.” There are several different puzzle pieces, each representing an element. Putting three or more pieces together will make those block disappear and add some amount to your resource total. Yep, it’s a pretty standard puzzle game formula. To keep it fresh, there are a couple of iPhone-specific innovations. You can only move pieces left and right, not up and down like in other puzzlers. What you can do to match up formerly unmovable pieces is rotate your phone. The accelerometer will pick up your movements and shift the direction of gravity. Pieces that were just sitting there will fall to the new “bottom” and you can move formerly vertical pieces left and right. You can even flip the phone upside down or to the other side to shift gravity in those directions. The gravity element is an awesome innovation that adds a whole new level of strategy to the experience. Plus, it’s just fun to flip your phone and watch pieces disappear. Feint also takes advantage of the gestures system in other ways. You can shake your phone or do a two-finger push to make more pieces appear on screen.

As you complete combos, you earn experience and money. Leveling up allows you to unlock new tools and spellbooks (effectively resource multipliers), which you can buy in the store. Once you buy them, you must go to your “smith” or “tower” and complete special challenges to reap the rewards of your new purchase. The smith challenges ask you to collect a certain amount of a certain resource before time runs out. In the tower, you must destroy every piece within a certain number of moves. Basically, leveling gives you new ways to collect resources even faster.

Aurora Feint: The Beginning is the first episode in what will apparently become an iPhone-based MMO. I’m not entirely sure what form the MMO aspect will take, it seems like it will become a take on Bejewled with community features. Looking through the menus gives a tantalizing peek at what is to come. You character screen makes reference to equipable weapons and armor, both of which are absent from this version. Perhaps you will be able to fight other players, ala Puzzle Quest. In the store, there is an empty category for scrolls, tomes that tell the backstory of Aurora Feint.

Clearly, Aurora Feint is still a work in progress, but it is already shaping up to be an incredible experience. There is a ridiculous level of polish for a game developed in ten weeks by a two person team. The game looks like a professional effort, with excellent music and artwork. The touch controls are sensitive and responsive, and the tilt mechanic is brilliant. I can’t wait to see the final product. If you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, you have no excuse not to try this game out.