If you have ever played any game in the ‘Bubble Shooter’ genre, you’ll immediately understand Magnetic Balls Bubble Shoot from 100500games. The gameplay consists of the same general idea: clear the clustered bubbles descending from the top of the screen by firing similarly colored bubbles at them. Just tap the screen to shoot a ball in that direction. Forming groups of three or more of the same color will cause them to pop and disappear. Simple. At the bottom, you can see the next four balls in your queue, so you can begin to strategize and think about making future moves more effective — you get points for every bubble popped and earn more for larger clusters and combos. 

There are two game modes in Magnetic Balls Bubble Shoot: Levels and Arcade. The game mechanic remains the same. Levels offers a more campaign-like experience with hundreds of levels, each requiring you to reach a certain amount of points within a certain amount of time to progress to the next. You’ll likely breeze through the first few but as you move through the levels they get more challenging, especially if you crank up the difficulty setting. 

Arcade mode offers endless gameplay — the goal being to score as many points as you can before you are overcome by bubbles. This mode gives you endless playability and it can be more fun trying to beat your own high score in this way. 

So important in a game if this kind is to nail the physics and I’m pleased that 100500games has. The balls sway and clink together convincingly as if they are actually being pulled to and fro magnetically and this adds a level of strategy to the game that is very much welcome. You can time your shots with the swaying balls for a better angle or utilize the magnetism to swing a ball around in order to lodge it into a better location.

It’s super easy to pick up and play Magnetic Balls Bubble Shoot. The one tap gameplay mechanic is as simple as it gets. Coupled with that added level of strategy, it makes the game surprisingly compelling. However, once you’ve played it for a while, it becomes very repetitive. It’s not a game you can play for hours on end, more the type of game you’d want to play to waste a few minutes here and there. 

Further, although the physics are great, the graphics are a little lacking in character. There are a number of 'Realms' to play in, but these are mostly re-skinned versions of the same game and all of them are too gaudy for my tastes. The physics are slightly adjusted in each Realm, presumably to reflect apparent changes in materiality — with certain balls feeling ‘bouncier’, for example — but the overall effect isn’t that different. The sound effects in the game can become irritating too — the constant clicking of balls hitting each other might be enough to drive you mad. There’s also no music when playing the game, just in the menu screens, making this clicking stand out even more. I ended up switching off sound effects. 

As well as earning points in the game, you also earn virtual coins. These can be earned slowly by racking up the combos or purchased in bulk in exchange for real-world money via in-app purchases. There’s also an option to voluntarily watch an ad in exchange for a small influx of coins, if you wish. This virtual cash is spent in the game on things like power ups (achieved by tapping on the next ball in your shoot queue) or on unlocking other difficulty settings. Of course, these coins can spent much quicker than they can be earned but it’s not entirely necessary to make use of coins at all, and you can easily play the game for free without ever making an in-app purchase. 

However, such is the monetization strategy of free-to-play games that, unfortunately, the game is also filled with ads. These become quite intrusive when they pop up as you navigate menus and spoil the experience somewhat. If you're not a fan of ads, you can remove them with an in-app purchase for a dollar. 

Magnetic Balls Bubble Shoot is a super simple, easy to learn game that most will be instantly familiar with. The physics are great and there’s an added level of strategy that makes the game more challenging and compelling. There’s tons of game time in it with hundreds of levels and that endless Arcade mode, but whether the game will keep you playing for long periods of time is another question. 

You can check out Magnetic Balls Bubble Shoot on Google Play and download it for free to give it a go yourself.