Official PBA Bowling Challenge game for Android now available

All you lane-goers out there will be happy to know that a nice new bowling game is available as a free download in the Google Play Store. It’s PBA Bowling’s official game, and the free download will net you a suite of lanes, bowling balls and challenges for you to practice your skills on the digital plane. The game features easy, intuitive controls for adding speed and spin to your shots, and the 3D graphics look stunning on devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the HTC DROID DNA.

While the game is free, it does feature freemium hooks such as an energy system, a tickets system and a bowling pins system. Energy is spent each time you start a game of bowling, and you can buy more energy using golden bowling pins (which, in turn, can be bought using real currency or the tickets you earn for completing games and challenges). You can also unlock new bowling balls which offer more speed, power and better looks.

It’s quite easy for developers to muck the freemium model up. Some make it impossible to move on past a certain point before asking you to drop real money, while others simply make the “recharge” time way too slow. Early impressions are that these developers — Concrete Software — have hit the right balance, with energy bars often being fully replenished in the time it takes to complete a full game, tickets being easy to earn and golden bowling pins being very inexpensive. Give it a shot in the Google Play Store if this monetization model doesn’t deter you.