This weekend I was very sick for three days and consequently spent most of my time in bed feeling rather sorry for myself. When I was feeling less sick I could leave the bed and watch Firefly or Arrested Development and play Osmos.

Osmos is an excellent game when you are sick because of its slow game play and lovely ambient music soundtrack. The game isn't just pleasant to play, it's downright relaxing.

In Osmos you are a blob of matter and your goal is to become the largest blob of matter on the screen. Larger blobs absorb smaller ones, so you want to find and absorb smaller blobs on the screen and avoid hitting anything larger than yourself. To move around, you shoot matter out behind you, but this comes at a price since it reduces your size.

Working with these simple base rules, a number of excellent levels were created; some of which require agility, others problem solving to beat. Different behaviour patterns are introduced in the other blobs which gradually increases the complexity. There is a good deal of variety in the levels and a solid progression in difficulty as you proceed through the levels.

The one thing that really stood out to me was the soundtrack. The soundtrack is ambient works from prominent groups such as Biosphere, Loscil, Gas/High Skies and Julien Neto. The music is well chosen, complements the game perfectly, and I got a kick from the songs that I recognized.

Overall I recommend this game highly whether you are sick or healthy. Osmos begins looking very simple but then develops an elegant complexity which makes it challenging and fun to play.