In Coconut Dodge, from Futurlab, you take on the roll of a side-stepping crab who moves side to side catching good stuff while dodging bad stuff. From time to time you level up and it gets slightly more difficult.

The game offers a few modes of play including a standard game mode which gives you three lives and has you scoring points for time survived as well as what you catch which includes gold coins, rubies, pearl necklaces, diamonds, gold anchors and bars. All of that adds to your score. Also there are beach balls that show up occasionally. The yellow one you must bounce the number of times on the ball to score points. The blue you must do the same to slow the game down as it speeds up while you progress.

There is also Maze Master which gives you a level and requires you to score a certain number of points. In this mode you have only one life and if you die or don’t get enough points you’re done. The Maze Master levels unlock when you reach them in the main game. So you have to play through as much of it as you can in order to play the other way. Not my favorite game mechanic of all time as it limits your ways to play for no apparent reason.

If you scroll past the last Maze Master level there are three ’hidden’ modes which are Keepy uppy - bounce the balls as long as possible, Hardcore - one life and Impossible - one life and low visibility where all the falling objects are black and you have to go on shape alone.

Not all of the mazes are available in Maze Master, only those that "provide a significant challenge for a player" according to James Marsden, Managing Director at Futurlabs. So you’ll notice that the mazes are number 1, 2, 3, 7, etc. When you reach level 7 in the main game it will be unlocked in the other mode.

To help you out you have a turbo and a super turbo you can also dig into the ground, however you pop up at a random location so it could prove far more dangerous than it is worth at times. But if you simply can’t escape it might save the day.

The graphics in the game remind me some early arcade games. I’m not talking about Space Invaders or Asteroids, maybe a decade after those games. The background is a beach with coconut trees (necessary to explain the falling coconuts of course) and the sea. The sea what I would call lightly animated. The soundtrack has a sort of Caribbean/calypso beat to it and fits in with the retro feel.

Overall, the game is a fun little mini. The game mechanics are a bit simplistic as there’s no sort of score multiplier or any real gameplay variation. It’s also one of those games that you play until you’re out of lives. There’s no saving to continue later, so if you’re really good, you could play for a very long time without a break (aside from pausing the game).