App Review: Flick Cricket
One of my favourite iPhone apps at the moment is Flick Cricket. Obviously, this is only a game for people who enjoy cricket, but even if you’re just a general sports fan then you may get some enjoyment from it. The general idea is that you play a game of cricket by flicking to both hit and bowl the ball. The strength and length of the flick will affect how far the ball will go.
Batting is the main part of the game, and is easy to do once you get the hang of it. After you’ve seen the field settings, the action zooms into the pitch before the ball is bowled. As the ball comes down the pitch – with varying speed depending on the type of bowling – you have to flick the touchscreen in the direction you want to hit. If you hit to slow the ball won’t go very far, but if you try to hit too hard then you may miss it altogether.
Bowling is also easy in Stick Cricket. You start by selecting a type of bowler – the three available are pace, swing and spin – and then you select a delivery type. For example, as a spinner you can choose for the ball to spin right, left or go straight on. You then flick the ball in the direction you want it to go, with the strength of the flick affecting the pace. You can also place each and every fielder, or you can just allow the computer to setup the basic field positioning for you. Bowling is very straightforward and can be a lot of fun, although the computer is quite easy to confuse once you’ve played for a while.
There are some problems with the game though. Firstly, there are some bugs which can be frustrating. For example, in the newest version sometimes if you don’t hit the ball properly another will be bowled immediately, leading to a wicket almost every time. the computer is also too easy to beat after a while, so a multi player version is definitely needed if you’re going to play this for any length of time. On the whole, it’s a good game that has a lot to offer, and will keep you addicted for hours.