5 Offbeat iPhone Games [PICS]

**Waqas** · September 25, 2011

Do you like iPhone gaming, but find yourself bored with the big, bland franchises? We’ve dug around the deepest, darkest corners of the App Store to bring you some offbeat options.

Including atmospheric, gothic platformers and stark, physics-based puzzlers, these five games offer immersive, grown-up gameplay thanks to atmospheric soundtracks, unique artwork and quirky concepts.

SEE ALSO: 4 Frighteningly Fun Zombie iPhone Games

Take a look at our hand-picked selection below. Let us know in the comments about any more unusual iPhone games you enjoy playing.

1. Spooky Hoofs

This gothic running game offers fast side-scrolling action with atmospheric backgrounds and creepy characters.

Cost: $0.99

Spooky Hoofs Gameplay

With two virtual buttons you control a horse and coach as it careers through a series of gloomy, gothic landscapes.

The game keeps you on your toes as you have to avoid obstacles and enemies while trying to collect magic orbs that give your horses special powers.

With one slip-up meaning game over, the moonlit, menacing setting, eerie sound effects and up-tempo music adding a sense of urgency will see you gripped very quickly.

2. Contre Jour

A physics-based puzzler, Contre Jour lets you control a little creature called "Petit" through a weird and wonderful landscape.

Cost: $0.99

Contre Jour Gameplay

Chillingo claims Contre Jour "blurs the lines between games and interactive art." With its orchestrated soundtrack from composer David Ari Leon and shadowy looks it's certainly different, but retains a kind of dark whimsy.

Playing the game is similar to Cut the Rope, but certainly feels fresh enough to justify the $0.99 download.

The character you control -- "Petit" -- isn't cutesy, but manages to capture your empathy, just as the game captures your attention, especially if you play with headphones, as suggested.

3. DeathFall

With gothic-slash-steampunk graphics, DeathFall offers mesmerizing gravity-led casual gaming.

DeathFall Gameplay

This is an odd little game. Through the iPhone's accelerometer you control a skull on a freefall through a strange world habited by beautifully illustrated objects.

Gameplay is surprisingly hypnotic, although you may find yourself jarred to attention when you hit obstacles.

Easy to get into, but not so easy to master, DeathFall is strangely addictive and deliciously different.

Cost: $1.99

4. DEO

Unusual and surprisingly challenging, physics-based jumping is the crux of peculiar platformer DEO.

Cost: $0.99

DEO Gameplay

With scratchy graphics and a electronic soundtrack, DEO is a stark game with a very simple, but effective, main character.

The aim of the game is to jump to each hill of a rotating level to "capture" it in order to grow your planet.

So, the concept is simple, the tap controls are simple, but playing DEO is not. It's all about timing, and it's deceptively difficult.

5. Grimm

A dark Victorian world forms the backdrop of Grimm in which you control a (possibly possessed) baby carriage with the aim of returning a lost infant to its mother.

Cost: $0.99

Grimm Gameplay

An imaginative, creative iPhone game, Grimm gives you platforming and puzzles.

Grimm may feature a baby, but it's definitely not a baby-ish game. The Victorian world is inhabited with horrible characters who threaten the infant you need to get home via the vintage carriage.

As a platformer, it's a unique take with wonderful artwork, a filmic soundtrack and excellent sound effects.

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