FFFFF2P

The videogames industry is changing, and not in a good way. There are fewer and fewer people creating single-player stories of depth and ingenuity in games. The sad truth is fewer and fewer people are willing to pay enough (or anything even) for games that are artistic, slower or deeper. Instead, videogames are increasingly falling into one of two woeful categories.

The big "AAA" console games are now skewed to multi-player online action – forget the plot, it's all about the twitchy fragging; and (while you're not looking) it's all about getting you to drip-feed payment for new add-on packs and "Season Passes" of extra content, so you can keep up with the online Joneses.

The other branch of videogames is "free-to-play". Primarily used with mobile and tablet games, this means you don't pay anything up front, but the game tries to encourage you to put down dribs and drabs of real money in return for in-game perks – not having ads plastered over your experience, or extra firepower, or a shortcut through the more boring bits of the game. Sometimes this can be so crass and unsubtle, you're actually paying to fix the game from the broken state it arrives in.

FFFFF2P is perhaps the first free-to-play game to lampoon its own way of gouging your wallet. Taking place in a minimalist, primary-coloured, Mario-like square box, the evil baddy Ug rains down blocks from on high that you have to dodge. Like Mario, your jumping onto a block destroys it, while its falling on you crushes you.

Mario, however, never had to contend with blocks covered in in-game adverts. Nor did your deaths – that come extremely rapidly in this quick-fire reflexes game – ever give Mario more coins. They do here. Although, this being free-to-play you can put down real money if you want to avoid the dodge-die-retry grind. A permanently faster run and higher jump costs pennies, insta-finishing the entire game costs $3. Seems a bit pointless.

As FFFFF2P constantly hammers you into the ground with falling blocks killing you often within seconds, usually within a minute, then you'll often be hitting the "retry" button. Except, even here, as you reach for the retry on screen, the game often pops up ads at you – that you'll accidentally click-through to.

Simultaneously cynical and satirical, FFFF2P is to be applauded for its chutzpah at the very least. It's just a shame that the underlying game – while furiously adrenalised and quite addictive in short bursts – is ultimately far too simple.

• FFFFF2P is out now for Android and iOS. Developed by Elevate Games.
• Read other gaming reviews on theartsdesk
• Simon Munk on Twitter