Prize Claw for iOS

The era of visiting carnivals and arcades may be over, but Prize Claw is a free iOS app that aims to re-create that old time feeling. The main problem is an overly cluttered interface that takes some time to figure out without delivering much of an incentive to keep playing (at least for free).

Prize Claw's interface is packed with ads and other information that made it hard to find the claw controller at first. There is a Help screen with instructions about the game, which helped us get oriented. Apart from the cluttered screen, we also weren't impressed with the restrictions that limit you to a certain number of grabs. In order to acquire more, you'll need to spend some cash to upgrade. With successful grabs, you can unlock things like a much stronger claw or the bomb. You'll also get rewarded for completing a set, such as bears, animals, cars, and dolls, which you can trade in for more grabs, cash, and other rewards, but we didn't feel this was enough to hold our interest for long.

Overall, we felt that Prize Claw is the kind of app that you tend to play just a few times before moving on. And while you could beef up the game by paying money, the free version didn't offer much reason to keep playing. There are better options for whiling away your free time.