PopCap launches "experimental" label

PopCap, the casual games powerhouse behind the likes of Peggle and Bejeweled, has announced a new off-shoot called 4th And Battery which will focus on some of its more out-there ideas.

"4th & Battery is a new label we're using to bring some of our more experimental ideas to customers," wrote PopCap studio chief Ed Allard on the label's website. "It's a way to lift some of our internal filters and let us stretch our creative legs a little.

"Expect 4th & Battery games to be a little off the beaten path compared to what you might expect from PopCap. They're a bit of a window into the unfiltered chaos of our creative process. A sandbox to let us play around and get messy.

"There's sure to be some fun stuff in here, but be warned - you might get some sand in your eyes."

Named after the intersection upon which PopCap's Seattle HQ sits, its first release will be a bonkers-sounding iOS title called Unpleasant Horse, trailered below.

"Your idea of a good time is bouncing from cloud to cloud and on to the backs of other, cuter flying ponies," reads the game's official description, "who will thus be sent plummeting to a gruesome, bone-chewing demise, thanks to an unfortunately placed series of meat grinders on the ground below."

No further titles have been confirmed just yet, but surely this is the perfect environment in which Johnny Minkley's Meat Ceiling can finally spread its wings and fly?