The most satisfying moment in Hitman GO happens after you position Agent 47 behind an unsuspecting target, slide him across the board, and the wonderful noise of the enemy piece tumbling onto the tabletop fills your earbuds. Conversely, hearing that fatal fall when you make a mistake and cost Agent 47 his little game-board life is infuriating on the same level. That dimension of physicality is what makes Hitman GO such a joy to play; without it, it would be just another semi-interesting iOS strategy game.

Each “world” in Hitman GO is presented as a partially open board game, the contents peeking out of the box, beckoning. Each level itself is a delightfully minimalist 3-D game board, which mostly depict the mansion grounds of your presumably rich and corrupt targets. Agent 47, enemy guards, and assassination targets are all board “pieces”; each a mannequin-like figure standing on a circular base, looking so solid and real you’d think you could pluck them out of your device and plop them on your desk. Items like rocks, keys and briefcases are scattered across some levels; their iron-cast look no different then the beloved Monopoly pieces of your childhood.

All of these bells and whistles that make Hitman GO feel so right, however, would be wasted if the gameplay beneath it was of the vapid Sorry! variety. Thankfully, it’s much more elegant than that.

Every board is made up of a grid of spaces that Agent 47 traverses one at a time. Your objective is to either make it to an exit or take out an assassination target. You swipe in the direction you want the bald assassin to go; he moves, then each enemy pieces moves. Each enemy type has unique movement: large, blue guards (who remind me of Marvel’s Kingpin) stay stationery, facing one direction. Yellow guards move in straight lines, back and forth. Knife-wielding guards are also rooted to one spot, but they rotate 180 degrees each turn. More enemy types show up the further in the game you go. End up in the line of sight of any enemy piece after you move Agent 47, congratulations, you’ve gotten him killed. Approach a piece from outside his vision, however, and you notch another kill on 47's belt.

The boards start out simple to solve (of course), then gradually get harder and harder. You end up in a nice loop of trial-and-error gameplay; trying different approaches for Agent 47, observing enemy movement patterns, trying out items(throwing rocks, for example, makes a noise that can distract guards, while a sniper rifle lets you take out a predetermined target), before eventually figuring out how to get Agent 47 from point A to B (where B is sometimes stabbing a man in the back).

The game encourages replay with optional objectives for each level, ranging from getting Agent 47 through the board without killing anyone, finishing under a certain number of moves, or grabbing a briefcase on the way out (presumably full of money, secret documents or Rogaine or something). Completing each objective adds to an overall count of objectives that you have conquered. Complete enough objectives, and you unlock the next world/box (this is also the only spot micro-transactions are used; if you don’t want to complete all of the objectives needed you can pay to instantly get access to a box).

After playing the game on my evening commute and a few times at lunch, I’ve gotten through three out of the five boxes the game comes with. Square Enix Montreal teases more content with a brown-paper wrapped parcel — complete with postage — adding to the “real world” feel of the game. Personally, I can’t wait for them to deliver.