Apple has finally given ‘Unpleasant Horse’ a release, and you can grab it now for free on the App Store.

Unpleasant Horse is the first game from PopCap’s “experimental” new games label 4th & Battery,which seems set to release some of its “more experimental ideas” from within the reams of game prototypes that would not usually see the light of day.

Unpleasant Horse has players taking control of a dark horse that leaps through the sky, grabbing onto ‘pretty ponies’… and slamming them into a pit of spinning blades. Best get into the evil mastermind spirit before playing.

Check out Apple’s page on the game.

In a less than perfect start to Popcap’s new ‘4th and Battery’ subsidiary, the labels first ‘edgy’ game has been rejected by apple. A, now removed, twitter post earlier today read “WTF? Apple rejected Unpleasant Horse cuz of ‘mature content’? We thought horses dying in meant grinders was wholesome family entertainment.” The went on: “We’re appealing, though (with a higher rating) and we’ll hopefully have good news for y’all soon.” They also joked: “Anyhoo, we still love Apple. Honest. We even had (and liked!) a Newton back in the day. Hope we get an appropriate rating for the game!”

Thanks to CVG for the info.

Popcap, those dudes behind Bejewled, have branched out and created a new label, aiming to explore slightly darker territories, called 4th & Battery. Described by Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at PopCap, as “the videogame equivalent of B-sides or short films,” the company’s first venture will be titled ‘Unpleasant Horse’ in which a a disagreeable equine kills birds and pushes his friends into meat grinders.

“The PopCap brand has become closely associated with ultra-high quality, polish and attention to detail — which is a great thing. But our standard game development process is therefore long and involved, and doesn’t really accommodate all of the creativity pumping through our collective veins,” continued Kapalka. “4th & Battery gives us a way to quickly try really strange or marginal ideas, and to give our designers a safe area to hone their chops… Expect Weirdness”

Unpleasant Horse will be available free on the iPhone app store later this month.

Thanks to Gamesradar for the info.