Rain engenders many cliches in the English language. April showers bring May flowers. Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day. In the case of Cover Orange 2, the most apt might be: And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall. A cute physics puzzle designed by Johnny-K, Cover Orange 2 is the story of oranges (and apples) dealing with that hard, hard rain. And it's gonna fall, oh yes it is. And that rain is lethal!

You may remember Cover Orange from our review back in October. It was the simple story of intrepid but fragile citrus fruit that needed protection from hard, spiky rain. It was up to you to construct some sort of shelter for the poor oranges from available materials — crates, barrels, and wheels — that would stand up to the evil rain when it came. If the structure didn't work, the intrepid fruit would die pretty rapidly. Cover Orange 2 is built on the same premise, with more levels, more difficulty, and the addition of apples to the mix.

As the game begins you see your orange, apple, or several of both sitting in the scenery. In the upper left of the scene you will see "ghosted" what materials you have to work with. Do you build around the fruit, or do you first move them to a more advantageous location that can be more easily protected? That is the challenge. When the last of the materials have dropped and everything stops moving, that evil, destructive cloud will appear, raining on everyone's parade, so to speak. If you built correctly, your grateful fruit will cheer and thank you. If you don't, well, try, try again.

Analysis: The original Cover Orange was a cute and fun little snack. If there were any complaints at all it was (1) the game was a little too easy, and (2) it just cried out for a level editor. Well, Johnny-K heard the call and has made it bigger, badder, and yes, there's a level editor!

The visuals are pretty much the same this time around. Cute, cartoony, and easy on the eyes. There's an abundance of adorable sound effects (even the sounds of dying fruit is somehow cute) and a bouncy, happy tune to help you along in your quest to protect the oranges (and apples). Fortunately, there is also a mute button if the sound effects or music get to be too much. Enjoy watching the animated fruits clutch their brows in terror or pray fearfully as the deadly rain begins to fall.

Cover Orange 2 is longer (25 levels, as opposed to 20 in the original), trickier (some levels require very precise placement and timing), and then there's the level editor. Players who've managed to get all the way through can then try to create a level (or levels) of their own, limited only by their imaginations and, of course, the laws of physics. There's even a contest going on right now for the best user created levels. It's nice amid the glut of casual gameplay to be found out there that a designer listens to the gamers and uses that advice to create something even better than the first, even when the first game was pretty cool to begin with.

The game itself is pretty much still a snack, a nice "break time" diversion that doesn't last all that long. Beware, though, the Level Editor. That may pull you in for some major time suckage as you try to create more elaborate scenarios to put the poor fruit through. Remember, in this case, when it comes to the physics of movement, you really can compare apples to oranges. What are you waiting for? Get rescuing! And I wonder, Still I wonder, Who'll stop the rain.

Play Cover Orange 2