Haven’t you always wanted to open up a lava lamp and reach inside to touch one of those incandescent shimmering blobs?

Well, though Tyjamaxy Empire's Lava Samurai can’t quite provide you with that experience (and I do NOT recommend it trying at home), this game does enable to you to slice and dice as many lava lamps as you ruddy well like.

Seems like a fair compromise.

We spoke to Karen Scarff, MD at Tyjamaxy Empire, about Lava Samurai, including its suitability for touchscreen devices like the iPhone.

“Lava Samurai is a lava lamp-slashing game where you use your fingers to cut up as many lava lamps as possible, while avoiding the dreaded light bulbs. There are three main game modes in which you can hone your samurai skills.”

Quick reflexes and precision slicing are necessary when trying to obtain high combos in the game’s main Magma mode.

Here, you aim to slice for as long as you can. If you allow three lava lamps to go astray or slash a light bulb, however, your game ends instantly.

Light mode, on the other hand, is a game of speed and concentration.

You have only 60 seconds to get the highest score, with cookies to cut for bonus points and clocks to chop to extend your time. This time, those pesky light bulbs won’t end your game; instead, ten points will be deducted from your total if you get a bit slice-happy.

Finally, Eruption mode is a free flowing mode in which you are given 90 seconds to aim for the highest score possible.

According to Karen, "Lava Samurai stands out from other apps on iPhone purely because of its addictive slashing fun and cool graphics, which vary from mode to mode.”

“It’s also great fun to compare scores with your friends on Game Center, and it’s easy to get into some really challenging score wars.”

So, what’s Karen’s favourite game mode?

“I really enjoy the Eruption mode with the volcano in the background - I get great satisfaction from building a huge combo and then extending my time limit with just a few seconds left on the clock.”

“But I also enjoy the little things, like how the lamps shatter when you cut them. It just feels tactile and makes Lava Samurai a joy to play.”

But it wasn’t easy to develop this game.

Karen claims the Tyjamaxy Empire team had some difficulties in getting the lava lamps to appear on-screen in a clean yet dynamic fashion.

Seeing as the game relies on the random placement of lamps ripe for the slicing, it was vital to get the the numbers right. Karen believes they got the balance just right in the end.

And that’s not all for Lava Samurai.

“We have plans to incorporate coins or currency into the game so that players can save up and spend their hard-earned cash on custom items such as swords,” Karen explains.

“And though we are not in the process of developing an Android version of Lava Samurai now, we may look at porting the game to Google's mobile platform if it finds success on the App Store.”

You can download Lava Samurai right now as an iOS Universal app for 69p / 99c on iTunes.

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