A relatively new iPhone and iPad title called FruitZen has been in the recommended apps section of the Apple app store lately, daring players to check it out. Developed by Sector3 Games, we expected this simple puzzle title to be like other match-three games. Using a few new features, FruitZen turned out to be refreshing. However, it is based more on twitch reactions than you would assume. Though not terribly difficult, the game isn’t peaceful, thought-provoking or zen.

FruitZen is is a match-three game, but it is more similar to Collapse than Bejewelled. You tap three or more matching tiles of the same fruit in order to remove them from play. The object is to prevent the tiles from reaching the top of the screen before time expires.

In FruitZen you can not only actively increase the rate at which fruit tiles fall, but also slide the rows left and right in order to make matches. If nothing is beneath a tile that you have moved, it will fall to the row below it. This creates very different possible strategies. You can go beyond just trying to find matches, to also finding potential matches.

Other mechanics were added as well. Should four tiles match, a wild card that cycles through all the fruit appears. Should five or more match, a tile that will erase an entire row or column appears. As levels progress, different fruit tiles worth more points begin falling, along with the the occasional acorn. You can only remove acorns with one of the tiles that eliminates entire rows or columns.

While all of this adds to the game, it doesn’t create a particularly zen feeling, as everything is done within a time limit. The player must “survive” for a given time, with each level getting progressively more demanding.

In FruitZen, you’re constantly watching the time, how high you tiles are, and when they get too tall, searching for blocks to remove. It’s not exactly frantic play, but for a “zen” game, the pacing should be at the player’s choice.

Once a wild card becomes active, it doesn’t simply “match” with any tile on the board (it would be madness for a “wild” card to do such a thing!) but cycles through tile types. This makes the game difficult because cycling forces you to wait until a fruit you can use appears — which is tough at higher levels. It cycles one fruit per second, so you have to be quick enough to tap before it changes. For a casual game, this twitch mechanic is a bit obnoxious, and feels particularly out of place in this game.

The sound in FruitZen is also peculiar. Typically, we avoid critiquing sound. Social games, regardless of platform, obviously don’t have the orchestral quality. But FruitZen’s soundtrack, while attempting to invoke serenity, loops the same handful of piano keys and becomes grating after a while. Thankfully, the most recent update allows you to integrate your iPod music collection.

Along with Facebook and Twitter postings, FruitZen is built on the Open Feint social gaming network. It has sharable achievements and leaderboards for all three of the game’s play modes: Survival (going through all the game’s levels), Timeless (play until you lose), and Countdown (play until you run out of time; with matches granting bonus time).

The leaderboards are also connected to both versions of the game, allowing players to individually view iPhone and iPad scores. The core of the game is the same on both devices, but the smaller screen size of the iPhone means that there are less tiles at any given time.

FruitZen costs $0.99 for the iPhone and $1.99 for the iPad. That’s hardly a lot of money, but FruitZen is no better than other free games. It has a few novel mechanics, but is still not terribly unique. It also just doesn’t have the relaxing feel that Sector3 was apparently striving for.