For those who have ever frequented a Show Biz Pizza or Chuck E Cheese (I know they’re the same now) or for that matter any decently sized arcade that has games that award tickets, you know what skee-ball is. I’m the first to admit that I’m just as likely to seek out one of these addictive machines as to play the latest and greatest fighter or dance dance whatever that the arcade has to offer. Sadly, even if you can find an arcade any more, and if you’re lucky enough to find one of these machines (or several in a row, as they are usually found), the chances of one of them working right is pretty slim. Now you don’t have to worry, because you can experience the thrill for yourself on your very own iDevice, and it’s actually quite addictive.
Hit A Glowing Cylinder
If you’re not actually familiar with the game, it goes something like this: each game consists of tossing 9 balls down a slope towards the playing field. The playing field has several open-ended cones on it, each one representing a certain point value. Points go from 10 to 50 in increments of 10, and then there are 2 100 point cylinders in the upper corners of the playing field. As long as you get the ball within the playing field (there is a gutter) you’ll score at least 10 points. You can also build up bonus multipliers as you play. Finally, from time to time one of the cylinders will glow, and you can earn even more points if you hit that cylinder when it’s glowing. Overall the objective is to score as many points as you can, because the more points you get, the more tickets you earn.
So what do you do with these tickets? Well, just like in a normal arcade, you can redeem them for prizes! I’m not exactly sure how the whole prize thing works, as I’m fairly new to the game myself, but I’d wager to bet that from time to time the prize selection refreshes as long as you have some sort of internet connection (or there may be a variety of prizes built into the game, who knows?) Either way the prizes are the types of things you’d expect to find in your local arcade, ranging from a sucker for 13 tickets to the coveted robotic dog for 12,000 tickets. Yep, you read that right. Better be ready to get a lot of games in!
Controlling your throws is quite simple. You can either swipe your finger on the screen in the direction you want to toss the ball, or you can place your finger on the screen and flick the device to throw it. Personally, I prefer the swipe method. Once the ball is in the air you can tilt your device to somewhat affect the path of the ball. I think they did a really good job with the physics in Skee-ball. The 100 point cylinders are hard to get as they should be, and the ball has this eerily realistic habit of hitting the 50 point cylinder and rolling its way down to the 20 instead of going in like this misguided waving of your hands is instructing it to. All this game is missing is that annoying little kid that reaches over and grabs the tickets out of your dispenser when you’re in the middle of playing a game.
The graphics are nothing awe inspiring, but that being said, they’ve done a very nice job of recreating an authentic looking skee-ball machine in 3D. I really like the slow mo effect on the final throw of a game. The prizes are cute and cheap looking when appropriate, just as you’d expect for prizes that you can win at an arcade. From the initial noise of the balls being dispensed to the rolling of a ball up the playing field, it sounds just like the skee-ball experience you remember as a kid. It would be cool if there were some background chatter from all those annoying folks that used to stand right behind you and bother you, but I guess that would be a little too realistic. There’s no music, but I was honestly getting so into the game that I didn’t really care.
I loaded up this game with the intention of playing one or two rounds so that I could say I tried it and delete it from my device to make room for some other games I need to review. Now it’s an hour later, I’ve written a review of the game, and I’m trying to figure out which game to remove from my “permanents” page to make a place for this one. Who knew something as simple as a skee-ball game could be so addicting? I’m usually not such a big fan of electronic versions of these old fashioned arcade experiences, but this one has got me hooked. If you haven’t yet taken the plunge, get yourself a copy of Skee-ball. It’s great casual fun, and good for the whole family.
Final Verdict: Recommended
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