As my wife guided me and our two sons to our seats to watch my daughters dance recital, she pointed accusingly at my chest and said, ‘If I see you playing that stupid iPhone game at any point you are in big trouble’. I feigned shock and outrage as she hurried away to take her role as backstage manager, before she disappeared behind the curtain she aimed another finger back at me, garnished with a raised eyebrow.

Despite my pretend outrage, I have to admit she was right to say so. Like all the best mobile games Jetpack Joyride is a game made for procrastination and the shirking of duties.

It’s fun, simple and addictive. And best of all costs one measly dollar, seriously, a dollar! That’s less than a pack of Tic Tacs.

You play as the awesomely named hero Barry Steakfries, a man with a Machinegun Jetpack (the games original and I think better title) who has to run, and run some more, flying over obstacles and hazards and avoiding missile systems, lasers and other threats. The further you go the faster things happen and the greater the challenge. Gameplay is bite sized chunks of action as you weave and dodge through danger by just pressing the screen to fly up and down.

Coins picked up on the run can be used to make cosmetic changes to Barry and his jetpack, buy advantages and special abilities and upgrade the numerous alternative vehicles that can be picked up in the game. These vehicles include a Wild Hog motorbike that briefly turns you into a shotgun toting Arnie, a giant mechanical Chinese dragon and a gravity suit that lets you run on the roof.

The addictive element of the game comes from the challenge missions. At any one time you have three challenges that can be completed during a run, earning you a coin bonus and stars towards moving up a level. These challenges vary from reaching a certain distance, to reaching a certain distance without, say, picking up any coins, or something random like bumping a certain number of the lemming like scientists who run around the level.

For a game that costs 99 cents there is a lot of fun to be had and time to be lost with Jetpack Joyride. Halfbrick studios have proven again that they know how to make ridiculously simple but maddeningly addictive games. You’d be crazy not to get this game if you have smart phone.

And yes, I managed to go the whole three hour dance recital without playing Jetpack Joyride. But I played it in the car the whole way home.