May 22, 2013

There certainly is no shortage of bowling games in the Google Play Store. We recently reviewed Concrete Software’s PBA Bowling Challenge, which is a cool game, but if you are looking for something a little more mellow, you might want to check out Bowling Paradise from InnoLab. You won’t find any tournaments or power-ups in this one, it’s just pure bowling in a zen-like atmosphere.

Bowling Paradise gives you eight locations to choose from: Beach (peaceful and relaxing), Garden (fresh and relaxing), Slope (exciting – ball rolling down a wavy path), Camping (quiet camping night), Dome (classic, luxury), Space (high impact – ball can fly in the air), Mushroom (imaginary land), Lights (special light effects). As you can see, each area gives you not only a completely different look, but can also impact gameplay.

You have 10 different balls and/or 10 different sets of pins to choose from. The game will automatically rotate the balls with each throw based on which ones you chose. Each ball is basically the same as far as gameplay, it’s just a matter of the look. The same goes for pins. Each frame will have a different set of pins based on the ones you chose. As far as pure gameplay, it’s bowling so it’s quite simple. Just move the ball horizontally along the line and flick your finger to get it going. You can add hook to the ball (while rolling) by using a swiping gesture, tilting your device, or both. You can select which you prefer in the settings. You can also turn the music and sound FX on or off as well as choose whether you want the camera to follow your roll or not.

Gameplay does feel zen-like because of the very relaxing music that plays in the background. Also, the pins fall very slowly, unlike the real thing. In fact, there are often times where it will look like you are going to be stuck with a split, but eventually more pins fall. At the end of each game, you will get a stat page that tells you how many spares, strikes, and open frames you had along with your previous high score for that location and some fireworks. The higher your score the better the fireworks are.

All in all, Bowling Paradise is pretty simple and perfect for the casual bowling fan. My only complaint is that it only plays in portrait mode. I played it on a Nexus 7 and I think it’s more comfortable to play in landscape. You can grab the free version today, and the Pro version costs $2.10. The pro version will give you the ability to play against the computer (3 levels) or play against up to 3 of your friends (on the same device). Check out their trailer video below and hit one of the download links to get started. Let me know what you think.