Obulis is an interesting entry into the casual game ballpark, incorporating a unique mode of gameplay that could be labeled no better than simply “chain-cutting.” The gist of the game is to make spheres fall into sets of target goals. Developer IonFX has prettied up the gameplay with some charming graphics, perhaps to make the art of sphere-dropping more elegant and poetic; however, not all is well in the land of spheres.

A level in Obulis begins with some number of suspended spheres that are each attached to the playing field via a chain or solid metal bar. Chains and bars can be cut in any order, and once removed, the previously attached spheres will fall, free to roll and tumble across a level’s many platforms and gadgets — there are cannons and crossbows on occasion that serve to launch spheres back up, but their control is limited. The idea is to time when each cut is made so that the spheres eventually drop one way or another into their respective bins; red spheres go into the red pots, blue spheres into the blue ones, and so on.

While the lone gameplay mechanic of chain-cutting seems a bit simple, there is some measure of difficulty in perfecting the timing of consecutive cuts. Once a sphere is in motion, it may be anywhere from one to five or more cuts and collisions before the target spheres reach their designated ends. I rather enjoyed these tricky moments of Obulis because it required me to move and react quickly with high precision, testing my coordination.

One of the nice features of Obulis is that if you fail a level, it’s no big deal; hit the retry button and give it another shot. The levels are small and short enough that you rarely spend more than a few minutes figuring out each one, making the game a great filler for any of the usual downtimes in a given day. On the rare chance that you do get stuck, several levels enable a “Show Solution” button that highlights exactly what needs to be done to pass it. Having the solution so readily available removes a bit of intrigue from Obulis, but at least it helps to lower any possible frustration fits.

I did experience some mild redundancy while playing Obulis. After a single hour, the levels of Obulis began to feel less and less complex to me. Even though I was constantly advancing to harder levels, as the farmer says, “Once you’ve seen one tomato, you’ve seen ’em all.” (I don’t know if farmers really say that or not, but it fits.) There are some fine-crafted gems in the bundle, but several of the levels are merely harder versions of their previous selves. The repeated level scheme, sadly, removes a great deal of replayability from the game.

When the levels aren’t too busy cloning themselves, one or two of them will take on forms reminiscent of Rube Goldberg machines. While looking cool, plenty of the levels did most of the puzzle work for me. On certain stages, all I had to do was start one of the spheres moving and the rest would be taken care of. Instead of figuring out how to solve a level, most my efforts were spent on getting my timing down; I knew what I had to do, it just became a matter of how skillfully I could enact the solution. That, to me, didn’t make for very compelling gameplay.

And yet, I kept playing. It wasn’t the reward system that had my attention; all I got for completing each level was a few gold stars (that’s really what you get). Rather, I commend Obulis because it’s a game that anyone can play and finish. Not everyone will like Obulis, sure, but anyone with enough strength to manipulate a mouse can take part in this entertaining physics simulator.

Despite its adverse features, the game is fun to watch — Obulis has great visuals, active backgrounds and some crafty level layouts. I doubt many players will feel challenged by the low learning curve of Obulis, but I know that I, for one, like a casual game every once in a while that doesn’t take weeks or months to complete. With a grand total of 151 levels, Obulis is guaranteed to poke some interest, but it will struggle to hold on. In any light, the low price of $10 (or less) is a fair exchange for the short burst of amusement the game offers.