Offspring Fling is a platform-puzzler where you play as a woodland critter who could well be a Pikachu/Clefairy (Pokémon) hybrid. She has lost her children around the 100 levels (plus some unlockable bonus levels) and must get them back.
The levels are short and very sweet. There's enough challenge so sometimes you have to think a while to work out the order you need to hit switches, collect children, and jump over perilous pits etc. The short nature of the levels gears the game towards speed runs which the game does reward you for beating some fairly strict times. You can just go for the basic award if you want in which you just have to complete the level.
You move with the arrow keys, press down to pick up children, X to jump and C to throw your children. Flinging your children around sounds cruel but they seem fairly durable creatures and it is all in the name of survival.
When carrying children, your jumping becomes limited which means you will need to use a logical process when navigating large gaps or passing small tunnels with only room for yourself. Therefore, there is a lot of flinging to be done, especially when you need to hit switches to make blockades and platforms disappear and re-appear to navigate through the level. When you fling your offspring, they travel in a straight line until they hit something, which, at this point; they fall down. This simplified physics is useful since you don't have to judge the exact point to throw them and rely on gravity. You do need to make sure they don't fall down into a pit of acid or fall down into a creature's path. Some levels make you jump and catch them mid-air to prevent them falling to their doom which can be a fairly tricky manoeuvre.
Most levels fit on one screen so it is easy to plan ahead, but there are some larger levels which scroll. The graphical style is nice and looks like a pastel painting, although the resolution is a bit on the low side.
The game is pretty straightforward which makes it easy to learn and nice to pick-up-and-play. The levels are designed in a wonderful way so they are fun, provide a fair challenge, and offer you the chance to replay them to beat your time to aim for the lucrative medals. When replaying them, you see a ghost of your character to help you judge how well you have improved.
Offspring Fling is a joy to play and highly recommended.