The concept of Space is Key couldn’t be any more simpler. You play as a moving block that can go left and right, and your goal is to get to the other side without dying. It’s a basic platformer with a visual design that alludes to the days of retro 8-bit video games. This visual presentation makes for an interesting game that’s more than just eye candy, but a fun 2D platformer with an attitude.

The pace of the gameplay can be deceptively fast. It can be startling to see your static-looking block suddenly start moving about the single-screen level really fast. It then gets challenging with all the obstacles you have to jump over or go under. Things get quite tricky with all the changes that you may encounter, especially the ones that affect the way you jump in terms of elevation or distance. Once you do die, you are brought back to life in an instant to go through it all over again. Things can get pretty crazy in this game, so you have to be used to playing platformers to do a speedrun without dying.

This lightning pace does not diminish the distinct visual style that makes it look like an old Atari game with various particle effects and other doodads in between, along with an awesome soundtrack that sounds quite anachronistic amidst all the 8-bit goodness. This game shows various funny messages as you play, which gives you various tips and insults as you go along. That kind of liveliness in a game does wonders in making it more “interactive” in a sense, increasing the fun factor by multitudes.

Perhaps what makes this game is the difficulty, exacerbated by the speed. There is a super thin margin of error in navigating through levels, so you’ll really want to punch something or someone whenever you fail a jump or bump into something unfriendly in the game. Space is Key likes to mess with players’ sensibilities, so you may want to lay off the caffeine before playing this game. This game is composed of 43 single-screen levels with various challenges and headaches waiting for you. The good thing is that you can retry hundreds of times with no problem and you respawn immediately, so you can definitely try and try until you succeed.

There is an online leaderboard and 25 Game Center achievements to maintain your interest in this game, and that’s pretty good for a game that costs a mere dollar. However, there really isn’t anything else to tickle your fancy. But despite not having much else, Space is Key has focus on its core gameplay and is quite good in making people like it for what it is.

If you really can spare a dollar, then you can give this game a try. It’s a fun and quirky platformer that looks quite novel and stylish. If you have an affinity for retro-looking stuff, then this should be a good addition to your iPhone game collection. Beware though that this game may have you become a glutton for punishment.