The game
“Having a Ball” is an Android game released by Fiddly Bits Software, a company that published two games previously for iOS (“1943: Carrier Pilot” and “Torpedo Away!”). It is a platform game that has some elements from other games such as PapiJump or Doodle Jump. In it you control a ball (that’s where it gets the title from) that jumps by itself and you have to guide it through different obstacles until you reach the exit.
Since the jump is automatic, the ball moves forward or backward using the two available buttons on the right and respectively left of your screen. These controls are marked with arrows and such the game is best played with your thumbs. Moving is not difficult, but it gets challenging to understand the physics of the elastic jump and have the ball reach a specific destination. The goal in the game is to reach the exit gate in each level which you see clearly marked. However, to improve your score you have to collect as many objects as possible. They are actually candies (in good correlation with the Halloween right around the corner) which you collect by jumping through them, and throughout each level you also can collect trophies for extra bonuses. The video tutorial below shows the gameplay of “Having a Ball”:
The game has a joyful theme where candy is everywhere alongside Christmas toy soldiers and lollipops, with some educational elements as well (i.e. bricks as alphabet letters). There’s currently a single world with 20 different levels that increase in difficulty and can be replayed if you want a better score. You cannot play a level if you haven’t passed the previous one and the good part is that you can play it for free.
Here’s a list of features that you get when you install “Having a Ball”:
- Cartoon-ish graphics. The game is targeted for children and adults alike, basically all bouncing ball fans. Judging by its graphics though, I’d incline to say that children will love it more since they have a cartoon-style with candies, trophies, Christmas decorations and other similar elements. When the game starts you have the option to choose between two different balls, the only difference between them being the color (the blue one is targeted for boys, the pink one for girls).
A typical level with your ball jumping around
- Music and sounds. The video trailer above has a background music, and that’s the default that plays when you’re in the game. It can be disabled from the main screen if you don’t like it, though I found it quite entertaining. Throughout the game whenever you do an action with the ball you’ll hear the associated sound (i.e. boing, boing, boing…) as you guide it to the exit.
- Multiple levels. Right now the game has 1 world with 20 levels, each playable as a sequence – you can’t play one without having passed the previous. When the game starts only the first level is unlocked, but as you complete others you can play any one that you’ve finished earlier, in case you want to improve your score.
- Easy gameplay. The gameplay is easy and you control the ball by tapping left or right, depending on which direction you want it to go. You’ll see two transparent guidance arrows on the screen showing you where you have to tap to move forward or back. Each level is filled with different kinds of candy and trophies that you have to collect, as well as elements that help you go higher or make it difficult for you to pass by. You’ll encounter elements that help you fly higher, others that help you jump, moving parts on which you have to jump, others that rotate and so on, in a similar style with the above mentioned platform games. All in all is a fun experience to guide your ball to the exit (I probably should rephrase this…).
- Free. The game is free to install and play and doesn’t display advertisements for the first 5 levels. The game does eventually start showing ads between levels, but they don’t start until level 6. For now this is an initial release, but updates will follow with more levels, more customization and other improvements.
Conclusion
“Having a ball” is that type of platform games you don’t just play a single level, you play more as it’s nice to guide bouncing balls. Doodle Jump was one of my favorites, along with million others, so playing a game with a similar style is fun.
You can read more about the developer on the official website at fiddlybitssoftware.com and download the game directly from Google Play: Download Having a Ball.
Name: Having a Ball
Developer: Fiddly Bits Software
Size: 15Mb
Package: com.FiddlyBitsSoftware.HavingABall.apk
Version: 1.1
Last update: October 28, 2013
Price: Free
