Bowmasters
By Paul Semel,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Simple but redundant, greedy physics combat game.
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Bowmasters
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Based on 4 parent reviews
Great
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Graphically and unnecessarily violent. Redundant, loaded with ads.
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Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
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Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
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Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
What’s It About?
BOWMASTERS doesn't have a story. While these characters may have a very good reason why they want to kill each other from a distance, it's never stated in the game. Instead, you just play a series of battles against the computer or other online players until everyone is dead.
Is It Any Good?
While there's a fun physics game at work here, it's undermined by redundancy and by being aggressively greedy. In Bowmasters, you use your finger to determine the angle and the amount of force you need to shoot an arrow, toss a brick, or fling a javelin at someone standing far away. Do it right, and you'll nail them, maybe even kill them. There's even a cool variety of characters -- including a briefcase-throwing Investor and a streaming gamer who flings her gamepad -- though don't be surprised if the lawyers for Groot, Mario, or Rick from Rick & Morty get the more blatant rip-offs removed. But while this can be fun and challenging, especially since every character has their own weapon, it's kind of just the same game over and over. The persistent greed is also a bummer. Not only are there frequent ads along the bottom of the screen, but there are also ads between each match, though you can always pay to turn off the ads. It's also needlessly bloody. While the game has a cool cartoony look about it, all the spewing blood and splattering skin seems unnecessarily gratuitous. All of which is why Bowmasters starts off strong, but eventually loses steam.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about physics. To excel at this game, you have to understand basic physics, but how else can physics help you in life?
Talk about unnecessary roughness. Do you think being so bloody and gory adds anything to this game? How do you think it would be different if it was less disgusting?
Discuss money management. Given that you can get free characters, and can earn others by playing, does it make sense to spend a lot of money on this game?
App Details
- Devices: iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Pricing structure: Free
- Release date: October 25, 2017
- Category: Action Games
- Publisher: Playgendary
- Version: 2.10
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 9.0 or later; Android 4.1 and up
- Last updated: April 30, 2020
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