PBA® Bowling Challenge 3.8.56

Sometimes I wonder, aren't all bowling games the same? In every instance, the core gameplay should be intact despite different colored balls, props, and powerups that might be featured. Just like with Chess or Sudoku, you should pick one that you like the most, and ignore the rest.

PBA Bowling doesn't go too far to distinguish itself from the rest. We have a standard Freemium model in place, where energy limits your play time, and exclusive currency helps you avoid grinding. There's also a standard currency, tickets, which are collected as contest rewards and can also be obtained in daily wheel-o'-fortune spins. You spend these tickets to buy individual bowling balls and oils, as well as to unlock new skins for the bowling hall.

The control scheme is fair. You can position the ball anywhere across the lane before flinging it, after which you can add a hook effect by tilting the device left or right. The standard bowling ball is not very responsive, but as you will play, you will be able to collect more balls based on their stats and, of course, price. There are also three special power-ups that you can summon at any time, but that also carry cooldown timers.

The "topography" of the line can also vary from game to game, depending on the length of the oiled part. As long as the bowling ball travels on the oil, the initial thrust will matter more than any subsequent hook-no... I mean hook maneuvers that you might want to imprint.

Game modes are unlocked as you progress and overcome their challenges. There are also several unlockable exotic tournaments, which are separate from the main progression line. Matches feature selections of virtual competitors, which are only used as scoring ladders. You never get to see any throws from a spectator perspective, unfortunately. In fact, you never get to look at anything else except your piece of the pie. This can seem simplistic, but it certainly helps tournaments move along fast.

PBA Bowling suffers from some stability issues. I have experienced sudden crashes a couple of time, but luck had it that it was not during gameplay.

Finally, you can enable multiplayer if you connect to Google Play Games. However, that is not something I care for, so I refused outright to tell Google how much time I spend bowling, although they probably know already.

Final Thoughts

I had a ball playing PBA Bowling for a while. Alas, bowling is not something that interests me. However, I found the interface friendly enough, and the gameplay sufficiently interesting to appeal to whoever might be in for rolling a ball or two on a virtual screen.