Boomtime Baseball Review

The first couple of sessions of Boomtime Baseball are pretty infuriating. Strike after strike cursed me thanks to my inability to line up the circles that dictate a sure fire hit. I wasn't so sure that I liked Boomtime Baseball, even despite its jovial 1920s attitude and music.

Then I realised the problem. I just needed to practice and master the timing. Once that issue was resolved, it all clicked and Boomtime Baseball turned out to be just the right kind of game to dive into for five minutes here or there throughout the day.

Boomtime Baseball uses a slightly unusual way of hitting the ball. Hold a finger to the screen and a blue line appears. Dragging a finger around the screen dictates the direction the ball goes once one hits it. Timing is crucial with two circles meeting indicating the moment that the player should release their finger. It sounds a little fiddly and it is, at first. All the more so given that an early or late swing achieves as little as an outright strike.

Master it, however, and Boomtime Baseball quickly becomes quite satisfying to play through. Mistakes will happen but it makes victory all the sweeter. Players can choose to buy coins or cash with real money via in-app purchases but much of the satisfaction comes from playing the game plenty of times in order to unlock new things. New characters to use and game modes and scenery can be unlocked this way. It's fun to have a small target to aim for, even if none of it happens to be essential.

Boomtime Baseball does get repetitive, given that no matter how varied the mini-games may seem, they all come down to hitting the ball hard. But, it's still quite fun to dive into for those short casual gaming sessions. The charm of the 1920s exterior provides the icing on the cake.