Flightless birds need an edge to survive. Penguins can swim like torpedos, ostriches are massive and can run like the wind, and chickens... just how have chickens survived so long? It's one of the many fowl-related questions Chickens Can't Fly will prompt you to ask as you boot it up on your Nokia Lumia 800, but the one we're most interested in is: is Chickens Can't Fly any good?

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As Chickens Can't fly is all about instant satisfaction, we'll give you the answer to that question right away: yes. It is good. With that out of the way, we can spend the rest of our review telling you why you need to download it for your Nokia Lumia 800, pronto.

The best way we can think of to explain how Chickens Can't Fly plays is to imagine Doodle Jump turned on its head and filled with sadistic implements and obstacles. Oh, and with the bouncy protagonist replaced by a reluctant chicken. Got it?

Allow us to elaborate. Your chicken is literally dropped into each level and tasked with flapping from side to side, munching corn, picking up power-ups and - most importantly - avoiding obstacles. The unifying goal across almost every level is to make it to the bottom of each stage with all your lives intact.

Its in the variety of secondary goals that Chickens Can't Fly's true lasting appeal lies, though. While the gameplay is a simple matter of tilting your Nokia Lumia 800 from side to side, holding the screen to pause your descent and tapping key power-up buttons where necessary, it's the simple tweaks to the ruleset that will keep you coming back for more.

There are levels that require you to make it to the end before a timer runs out, pick up a bunch of tokens, 'paint' the walls by dragging along them, collect as many negative power-ups as possible (including parasites that make your vision go wobbly and sausages that make you fat) - the list goes on. As well as providing welcome variety, these constantly mutating levels serve to cleverly introduce new elements without having to play an extended tutorial at the start of every new Lab (the name given to each themed world, of which there are five).

That's the not inconsiderable single player mode covered, and it's worth noting that it provides more than enough entertainment as it is. But then there's the multiplayer mode. This gives you a weekly challenge, complete with a constant reminder of where you are in the pecking order (pun intended). The first one is a simple 'get as many points as you can before dying' type challenge, but we assume these will branch out to encompass the other variations present in the single player game.

Suffice to say this extra competitive element is buttery crust on this already-delicious chicken pie of a game. There are also special chicken-themed ringtones that can be added to your Nokia Lumia 800's menu, which we suppose is the little decorative pastry cut-out on top of the pie. 

Laboured food analogies aside, Chickens Can't Fly is an excellent package. The gameplay itself is nothing new, and is really quite basic, but it's the embellishments that really make it stand out. The presentation is another area in which the game excels, with a sharp cartoony look that's just perfect.

Another nigh-on essential exclusive for your Nokia Lumia 800, this is one flightless bird with plenty to offer beside mindless flapping.