Game of the Week: Basket Fall – The ‘endless dunking’ sim

No, you read the game’s name right. It’s Basket Fall, not Basketball.

Like all mobile titles worth playing, Kumobuis’ Basket Fall, which dropped on the iOS App Store this week, is deceptively simple and immensely satisfying, giving players that often sought after gratification-filled and dopamine rush so many mobile developers vie to create.

The objective of the game is exceedingly simple: players slide their finger across the bottom of the screen, attempting to sever a ball from a string – which is sometimes a basketball, and in other stages, a plunger or marshmallow – in an effort to try to get it to fall into a basket-like object that’s sometimes a warp pipe pulled straight out of Nintendo’s Super Mario series.

The fact that the ball is constantly in motion and requires the rope to be severed at a specific moment is where things get difficult in Basket Fall. Later stages throw obstacles such as bumpers into the mix, which interfere with the ball’s trajectory, but also result in a higher score if you’re able to bank the ball properly. Imagine a simplified, though slightly more difficult version of Cut The Rope, and you’ll have a good idea of what type of game Basket Fall is.

Coins are unlocked as you move through each stage, and can be spent on different themes, as well as additional state attempts since the game is fortunately, or unfortunately, free-to-play. Random coins can also be found even if you fail a level, although this isn’t always the case. And if you’re out of coins, thankfully the game doesn’t force you to shell your real world dollars, unless you opt to do so; watching an ad gets you an additional step at a stage.

While Basket Fall’s free-to-play features can get frustrating, they’re also easily ignored. Kumobuis‘ latest is addictive, inventive and definitely worth checking out.

Basket Fall is available for free on the iOS App Store. It’s unclear if Kumobuis also plans to release an Android version of Basket Fall, but considering the studio’s other titles have made their way to Android, it’s likely this one will as well.