While I may not fully agree with the recent “casual games” terminology that has emerged as of late, I do acknowledge the fact that there are some games with widespread, general appeal. I am here to tell you that Droplitz is one such game. While it was merely one of many games available for hands-on play at the Atlus booth and most people were spending more time gazing upon their Trauma Center nurses more than any piece of software, I can guarantee that many iPhones will be spinning with leaky pipe pieces before too long.

The concept behind Droplitz is simple–there are several sources along the top of the screen, and several collectors along the bottom of the screen. Using various pipe pieces, the player must create connections between the two groups. After establishing a connection, a purple (red on the iPhone?) droplitz begins to traverse the path spawned by the player. It’s at this point that the real fun begins.

Connections between the top and bottom of the screen can be stacked in combos. As long as the purple droplitz has yet to reach the collector, you have time to create more links–and every link created brings along another purple droplitz to traverse the path. Making use of those windows of opportunity, massive combos can be chained up and these combos can be carried over with “Chain Reactions.” Each time all the purple droplitz have reached the bottom, all the pipes used evaporate, the speed increases slightly and new pipes drop in to repeat the process.

With a fitting soundtrack that suggests the degree of urgency necessary to really get into a puzzle game, the game will easily call you back time and time again to test your ability on a variety of difficulties and board sizes. Coming out on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network, Microsoft Windows and iPhone later this year, puzzle game enthusiasts owe it to themselves to give this one a second look.

Power-ups, "Infection" mode, and themed levels all add diversity to the mix.