‘The Act’ for iPhone, iPad stars a lovable loser. You game?

Instead of playing a strong and confident video game protagonist -- such as Uncharted's Nathan Drake or Tomb Raider's Lara Croft -- it could be equally as fun to control a hapless hero who can't seem to catch a break.

Whether it's a lovable loser like Leisure Suit Larry or the dimwitted Dirk the Daring from Dragon's Lair, it can be fun (and funny) when the star of the story has, er, issues.

You can expect this kind of misadventure with Chillingo's The Act ($0.99 cents), a new "interactive comedy" for iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

You play as Edgar on a quest to find love, keep your job as a window washer and prevent your bumbling brother from getting into trouble.

The smoothly animated game looks like a TV cartoon, but every few moments you'll be prompted to place your finger on the screen to control Edgar's action with a slow swipe left or right. It's not quite like those "quick-time events" in the aforementioned Dragon's Lair game — where you need to push up, left or right at the correct time — rather, your subtle finger swipes on the screen will nudge Edgar's behaviours so he can accomplish the task at hand in a timely manner.

For example, early on in the game you're trying to get into a hospital elevator, but the security guard is only letting in doctors with white coats. After you acquire one and are standing with other medical professionals, you must react to a doctor's stories to fit in with the rest of the crew. By slowly dragging your finger left or right, your reactions range from a look of concern to hearty laughter — therefore you must choose the correct response in real-time to be considered one of the gang. If you're looking sad when there's a funny anecdote being told, you'll be singled out -- same goes if you're laughing during a tense tale.

There is no dialogue in the game, but the characters' body language and sometimes music (which is excellent, by the way) gives you the clues you need.

But no, The Act doesn't give you the same kind of freedom as other games -- you can't roam around the environment and interact with people or objects — but this charming story should appeal to a casual gaming audience.

Also, Chillingo's hand-drawn animated adventure isn't very long at less than an hour from start to finish, and with little reason to play it all over again, but it's a charming digital diversion nonetheless. It's also one of those games you'll want to hand to your friends to see how they'd fare in Edgar's shoes.