Ah the French, the world’s punching bag. Lord knows why Chillingo decided to go with the name, but that’s their call. First released in August of 2011, the “Contre Jour” app allows you to portay a… uhhh… thingy! This thingy’s goal is to get bits of light and then eventually go to the portal and escape the level, a structure very much based on Cut The Rope. The thingy itself cannot move under it’s own power. The deal is, though, that you must manipulate the ground in order to get the thingy through the portal. And I noticed that things had a way of getting challenging really quickly as they started adding new dynamics into the mix. Apart from the gameplay, the art style seems to be rooted in a Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet – Limbo hybrid, and the music sounds like something you’d hear in the background of a bedtime story.

Recently Contre Jour has been updated with both iPad retina support a new 20-level Jungle area. The $2.99 price tag may seem a bit steep at first, and it is, but after a short time you’ll notice that you’re actually having a lot of fun, and then after a while, you’ll realize that it was worth it.

The app launched in October of 2009 for $10, and then again with a follow-up app in 2010. So far EA, or more specifically EA Mobile, has not commented as to why this has occurred. But one can easily surmise that Rock Band trend is falling quickly out of favor with gamers, not to mention that even fewer people would want to get their Rock Band fix via iOS. But still, it’s fairly lame that the app still exists on the iOS store at all, I feel bad for the folks that are buying the app in the next month only to find that the game won’t be playable by June.

First thing you’ll notice is the arrow legend on the lower-left, it’s essentially a d-pad you’d expect on a standard controller. You do have the option of changing the control scheme to “Touch Only”, which seems like having areas to touch in quadrants but in the full area of the screen rather than just the control pad. I tried this option for all of five minutes until I got frustrated enough to the change it and never go back. But even then, unfortunately, I found the controls to be not as responsive as I’d like.

Another thing that I should note is that I was playing this on an iPod Touch. I’m not sure if they were anticipating that most people would be playing this on iPhone or iPad, but there were plenty of times where the game started chugging to the point of it no longer being playable. After a few seconds it seemed to work itself out, most of the time. Rinith Island is free for today only, and if you’re following AppSlappy on Twitter then you already know that. Good for you.

And now Confidence Builder is boasting over “5,000,00″ users, and a hearty congratulations goes to them for their hard work.

Did I mention it’s free? It’s free.

Here’s the the breakdown of the new gadgets from Halfbrick:

SECTOR 1: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Air Barrys (3500 Coins)
Leap gracefully over obstacles with these designer sneakers.

Nerd Repellant (2000 Coins)
The patent-pending formula is so potent that the whole laboratory had to be abandoned.

Insta-Ball (2000 Coins)
Bounce off the floor instead of going splat. Great for traveling a few extra meters.

SECTOR 2: FRINGE SCIENCE LAB

Gravity Belt (5000 Coins)
Makes the ground come at you a lot faster than usual. Be sure to bend your knees when you land.

Missile Jammer (5000 Coins)
Replaces the missile guidance program with pictures of kittens downloaded from the internet. Only works if the kittens are particularly cute.

Token Gift (5000 Coins)
What do you give someone who has everything? A free final spin token, of course!

SECTOR 3: PSEUDOSCIENCE ACTION GROUP

Freeze-O-Matic (3000 Coins)
There’s no better way to cool down after a hard run than being snap-frozen in a solid block of ice. It also helps you slide a few extra meters.

X-Ray Specs (4500 Coins)
This high-tech eyewear is both fashionable and functional. Now you can look inside vehicle pickups and other places you’re not supposed to see.

Gemology (6500 Coins)
A special blingification technique that converts coins into high-value gems. For some reason it only works on coins minted in 1985.

SECTOR 4: FUTUROLOGIST LOUNGE

Ezy-Dodge Missiles (5500 Coins)
If you’re going to play a game of chicken with a missile, make sure it’s an Ezy-Dodge!

Magnetic Tokens (4500 Coins)
Every token is fitted with a super-strong magnet. They are easier to collect, but will probably wipe your credit card.

Flying Pig (6000 Coins)
This highly-unstable coin transporter was designed by a scientist with a particular fondness for physical comedy.

SECTOR 5: TESTING ZONE

Free Ride (5000 Coins)
Stop off at the motor pool before smashing through the laboratory wall. Why didn’t Barry think of this earlier.

Coin Magnet (6000 Coins)
Once you get used to the feeling of being endlessly pelted with coins you will start to wonder how you ever lived without it.

Lucky Last (5500 Coins)
Your final spin token is forged from fortunium, the world’s luckiest element.

I am reminded a bit of the much higher profile story involving the “Scrolls” name infringing on the “Elder Scrolls” license between Bethesda and Mojang, a case that was resolved amicably with Mojang still being able to use the name. I’m not sure what Bethesda’s specific claim is other than just general infringement, but whatever. The app is still up for the time being, so get it while you can.