The past couple of days have seen the media buzzing about Bubble Ball, the game made by fourteen-year-old Robert Nay that has knocked Angry Birds Seasons off the top of the free apps charts of the App Store. We decided to try out the game for ourselves on our iPhone 3GS and iPod touch and after a day of moving objects and working out angles, we found ourselves a long way from being impressed.
First things first, the game itself is all about getting a ball to roll past (or near, in some cases) a flag. Of course, the ball itself is nowhere near the flag, so what you have to do is arrange different objects to ensure that the ball rolls, slides and falls in a manner appropriate to get it near the flag. In simple terms, it is as easy as using the objects at your disposal, which are all geometrical shapes (line, triangle, square, etc.) to make a path for the ball to roll near the flag.
Putting a spin on this object-adjustment exercise is that some of the objects are made of wood and respond to gravity (i.e., descend to ground) while others are metallic and can stay in whichever posture you arrange them. You also get the option of using power ups that will turn gravity off or will increase the rolling speed of the ball. To change the angle at which you want an object placed, just tap it and of course drag and drop it in the place you want it.
Gameplay is easy – you arrange the objects and then hit the “start” button upon which the ball will start rolling and depending on how well you have arranged matters, will either reach the flag or finish short of it. There are 21 levels, beginning with the basic and moving on to some extraordinarily complex ones.
All of which would have made for a exceedingly fascinating and intellectually stimulating puzzle, especially considering that it comes from a fourteen year old. That it does not attain that status is because it Looks like the effort of a fourteen year old – the graphics are basic and look like something out of a science project, the music is non-existent, the sounds are extremely basic, and well, while the touch responsiveness of the game would have had Symbian users beaming in delight, it is honestly in the “sucks” territory on the usually fluent iOS. And it is this last bit that actually, immensely irritated us, especially in the later stages of the game when the number of objects to be stacked up increased!
So just how good is Bubble Ball? Well, if you take away the youth of its developer, it is nowhere near other casual worthies such as Cut The Rope and Angry Birds. To be brutally honest, it is all right for a few minutes of path-making, but not much else. Yes, it is a free game. Yes, it has been made by a exceptionally young developer. Yes, it shows what even a very young person can do on the iOS platform. But it is certainly not in the “great game” category, not even in the “good game” one, notwithstanding all its current popularity.
Worth downloading? Certainly, if you are curious about what a fourteen year old can do. But if what you are looking for is a perfect time waster, give this one a miss. All the truly best, Robert. But to your game, we must say “Nay!”
