Created by Erik Loyer, Ruben & Lullaby is an iPhone/iTouch game that quickly grabbed my attention.

The titular Lullaby?

The premise of the game is a very identifiable one: a couple having their first fight. It’s meant to be an interactive graphic novel, with the illustrations supplied by Ezra Claytan Daniels. The black ‘n’ white ‘n’ single-tone art is reminiscent of what Michael Cho did for Everybody Dies, relying on thick outlines tracing the individuals’ major characteristics. This approach creates a clean look that’s very easy to make out — something that should be vital to a game based on reading and responding to people’s emotions.

The controls are fairly simple too: rub the screen to calm a character down, shake the device to make him/her angry, and tilt it to switch focus between characters. This is a very limited toolset with not a lot of depth, but at the same time it makes Ruben & Lullaby that much more approachable. There’s no complex gestures or movements to memorize, and the interface is more than enough to tell an interactive story. I particularly like the tilting mechanic as it’s easy to associate it with physically turning to face a person.

Overall the whole package is very attractive and should be easy enough to pick and play for any casual user. I’m not sure how successful it’ll be, but it’s definitely an interesting game and I’m curious as to what might follow it.