Definition time. Sparks: pretty to look at, painful to the touch. Dust: that stuff under your bed you've been meaning to get rid of.

Neither entity seems especially good fodder for game development, on the face of it. But put them together with the humble double jump, and see what beauty results.

Sparks and Dust casts you as a magically gifted adventurer of some sort, exploring a two-and-a-half-dimensional realm comprised of glittering ice, dust clouds, sand and swirling gas.

Move with the arrow keys, hit space bar to jump. Tap the latter twice to double jump, and thrice to divebomb the weird griffin creatures and skull mages who dot the game's three worlds.

Don't get too lavish with the divebombing, though - each impact blasts a hole in the terrain, making it harder to reach higher platforms, hovering warp orbs, coins and power-ups.

On the other hand, you might also crack open a door to a subterranean area. Watch out for tell-tale plumes of light.

The game could do with a storyline, but it's still a highly polished run-and-jumper. Try The Pretender for less reflex-driven platforming.

Play Sparks and Dust