Backyard Bounce Review

Off the wall, through the rafters, over the river and nothing but net. While that might remain a dream of mine on how I'd win a game of H.O.R.S.E. with my buddies, Backyard Bounce brings some of it into reality. Simply put, the goal of the game is to put the ball in the hoop. However, how it gets in the hoop is anything but simple.

While this is another take on the physics-based puzzle genre, I have to say it's a nice twist, especially for basketball fans. I grew up playing basketball and a lot of it was playing P.I.G., Around the World or the aforementioned H.O.R.S.E. The best part of the game was trying to come up with a unique shot that the opponent wasn't able to complete. As such, Backyard Bounce is setup the same way, but the gamer is the opponent and is already setup as if they're the one shooting to ensure they don't get a letter from the title of the game. These shots start off easy, but quickly become very difficult to complete.

There are plenty of objects to help the gamer complete the task at hand, which is getting the ball into the hoop. One of the first objects is a piece of wood that can be angled to ensure the ball rolls in the right direction. The controls are easy and very intuitive.

For instance, the piece of wood when activated can be placed anywhere on the screen as well as positioned at any angle. This is extremely helpful for when trying to get the ball to bounce one way or the other. As the game progresses, the player will have access to more objects such as triangles and bowling balls to guide the ball into the hoop.

The game features 72 levels across three worlds with the best part being that each level has multiple solutions. This is the extra bit of entertainment that helps make this an overall great game. Unlike most physics-based puzzles, Backyard Bounce doesn't have the repetitiveness that leads to boring gameplay. This, plus its homage to Mr. Naismith makes for a great game.