What can I say about Pizza vs. Skeletons that hasn’t been already said? Maybe “Pizza vs. Skeletons is an allegory for the destruction of the American middle class” or “Pizza vs. Skeletons leaves me feeling as if I just cosumed the afterbirth of a 14lb baby.” While these things have likely never been in print, they honestly have nothing to do with the simple, polished and fun romp of a game that is Pizza vs. Skeletons. Pizza vs. Skeletons is not some sort of clever title to incite symbolic meaning; it’s literally just a game where you play a giant pizza with the goal of raining down saucy and cheesy justice on the living dead.

The game is set up in a way most iOS gamers are comfortable with: short levels grouped together in worlds, normally themed around a handful of mechanics and aesthetics. The game looks great, it has a cartoony but smooth look to it that suits the handheld platform and the game’s tone quite well. The entire tone itself is very interesting. It has a visual theme that combines the dark but goofy tones of Scooby Doo and the cheesiness of 1950’s monster movies to great end. Despite all this visual goodness, it’s the gameplay itself that really causes Pizza vs. Skeletons to shine though as a mobile gem.

The game offers a wide variety of goals, mechanics and level design. The levels themselves do an excellent job of introducing you to the new mechanics as you play without bogging you down with a million things to remember. The mechanics themselves are not particularly complicated. The level goals are simple to achieve but rewarding of perfection through a star system similar to that of Angry Birds or Cut the Rope. The interesting part about the mechanics is how many of them there are. The aforementioned games may have different objects that act differently, but the ultimate goal of each level is the same. Pizza vs. Skeletons changes it up regularly with a multitude of level types. Some levels pit you against wave upon wave of spear-armed skeletons until there are no more, while some levels you have to ride a spinning skull over spikes, ski down a snowy hill or grow big and strong by eating more and more skeleton fish (along the lines of Fishy). I can see how the lack of mechanical specificity could be consider a negative to some, but with the consistency of the controls and aesthetic, the changes in gameplay mechanics are a breath of fresh air compared to the doldrums of repetitive level design.

Everything about this game is bursting with fast-paced and silly fun! It is the perfect game if you just want to play a few levels on some downtime, but has the variety of level design that still allows you to play for an hour or two without getting bored. Pizza vs. Skeletons is available here in the iOS app store for $2.99 and has both an iPad and iPhone version. If it sounds interesting, but you aren’t quite willing to ‘break the bank’ and spend your last three bucks, there is a free demo version of the game that doesn’t include all of the levels so you can get a better idea of the game before you choose to buy it. But really, I cannot remember the last time I had this much fun on a mobile device. If you have an iOS device, I highly suggest getting this game right now! You will not regret it!