Comparison

PBA® Bowling Challenge vs Bowling Sim

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

PBA® Bowling Challenge

Compete against professional bowlers in realistic 3D matches, from local alleys to national championships. Master your skills in career mode or challenge friends in real-time multiplayer. Unlock new balls and face legendary opponents.

Highlights
  • Career mode
  • Real-time multiplayer
  • Compete against 24 PBA bowlers
  • Over 100 bowling balls
  • Dozens of PBA tournaments
  • Leaderboards and achievements
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Rise through the ranks against 24 of the PBA’s best bowlers as you compete for a variety of regional and national championship trophies. Starting in a local alley with a scuffed up 12 lb ball, you’ll hone your skills against bowling legends on your way to competing in the Tournament of Champions! Start a career or bowl a quick game! Career mode is at the heart of PBA Bowling Challenge, but if you’d rather just lace up and take to the lanes, we’ve got you covered. Choose from a wide variety of opponents and locations and unlock even more content in Career Mode! Online Multiplayer Action! Bowl against your friends in real-time, one-on-one multiplayer matches! Powered by Game Center services, multiplayer mode lets you invite your friends or get matched against a random opponent! Bowl against the best! How do you think you’d fare against the cool confidence and pin-point accuracy of Walter Ray Williams, Jr. or the brash power stroke of Pete Weber? How would your scores stand up against the high spin and smooth release of Norm Duke or the high cranking backswing of Tommy Jones? Based on actual statistics that track their power, hook, and control, PBA Bowling Challenge strives to accurately recreate the skill and style of the top bowlers in the sport today. Features Include: - Quickplay, Multiplayer, and Career modes! - Dozens of PBA Tournaments! - Bowl against 24 of the best PBA bowlers! - Over 100 different bowling balls with unique stats! - Leaderboards and Achievements. - Bonus challenges in every tournament! - Split Balls, Bomb Balls, and more!

About

Bowling Sim

Experience a highly realistic bowling simulation with authentic physics and oil-coated lanes. Choose from multiple game modes, including single player, local multiplayer, and AI opponents, with adjustable difficulty levels. Enjoy stunning graphics and track your progress with detailed statistics.

Highlights
  • Realistic physics engine
  • Multiple game modes
  • Adjustable difficulty levels
  • Hook and spin ball control
  • Detailed statistics tracking
  • 21 unlockable bowling balls
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

Try out the most realistic bowling simulator! The gameplay physics are based on the throws done by real professional bowlers and are extremely close to the real game. The lanes are coated with oil to mimic real conditions. 3 game modes: * Single player * Play with friends (pass-n-play/hot seat) * Play vs computer Each mode has two difficulty levels: Easy mode – you can correct the ball's rotation after you've released the ball. Hard mode – it is not possible to adjust the ball after the throw. There are separate worldwide ratings for every difficulty mode. - Classic 10 pin bowling (10 frames) - Easy-to-manage interface and control - Hook the ball - Amazing Unreal Engine 4 graphics - Detailed track of statistics - Play vs computer mode (computer's skill level is adjustable) - Play vs friends on the same device (2-4 players). Each player can choose his own ball - Ball rotation can be corrected after release (in easy mode) - Independent worldwide ratings for every game mode - 21 bowling balls to choose from - Offline mode - 100% free game How to play: * Set the ball in the selected position * Slide your finger on the screen from the starting line towards the pins (the speed is not important, what matters are the touchpoint and the drop-out). The longer the distance is between the first contact and drop-out, the faster the ball goes. * In Easy mode it is possible to correct the ball's rotation by simply sliding left or right on the screen. Correction magnitude depends on how far the finger moves on screen. * You can also spin the ball. The speed and the rotation are controlled by the HOOK button. Did you get this far in this description? Well, it is time to download the game now! It's fun and completely free. We are always working to improve the game and value your feedback. For support or suggestions, please contact us at: support@simfo.games

Screenshots

PBA® Bowling Challenge4 screens
Bowling Sim4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bowling Sim at none against PBA® Bowling Challenge's 18. Bowling Sim also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 62%). PBA® Bowling Challenge's advantage is ratings volume (131K vs 444) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. PBA® Bowling Challenge sells 15 one-off in-app purchases. Bowling Sim asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PBA® Bowling Challenge holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PBA® Bowling Challenge has 131K ratings behind it against 444, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 62% of PBA® Bowling Challenge's written reviews are positive against 80% of Bowling Sim's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PBA® Bowling Challenge ships an update fortnightly, Bowling Sim every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
PBA® Bowling Challenge versus Bowling Sim: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPBA® Bowling ChallengeBowling Sim
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (131K ratings) — better4.5 (444 ratings)
Positive reviews61.6% of reviews79.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings131K — better444
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
Best chart rank#146 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size143 MB208 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperConcrete Software, Inc.Dmitriy Rytikov

Customer experience

PBA® Bowling Challenge

All ratings130,562 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral4.8%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews537 reviews
Positive61.6%
Neutral10.1%
Negative28.3%

Bowling Sim

All ratings444 ratings
Positive86.9%
Neutral5.9%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive79.8%
Neutral8.1%
Negative12.1%

User reviews

PBA® Bowling Challenge

From 131K App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Best game for stress
  • ⭐ Fun and challenging gameplay
  • ⭐ Realistic bowling experience
  • ⭐ Great graphics and sound effects
  • ⭐ Variety of venues and features

Room to improve

  • 🙄 Excessive ads and in-app purchases
  • 🤔 Tournaments feel rigged at times
  • 😒 Progression is too grindy
  • 🤯 Frequent bugs and crashes
  • 🤬 Loss of progress and saved data

Bowling Sim

From 444 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Realistic bowling simulation
  • 🎨 Great graphics and visuals
  • 🎵 Relaxing background music
  • 🕹️ Intuitive and easy to play

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🛑 App no longer working after updates
  • 💤 Unresponsive controls
  • 🚫 Ads too intrusive

Bugs and requests

PBA® Bowling Challenge

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game freezes after watching ads
  • Progress and stats randomly reset
  • Multiplayer matchmaking issues
  • Inconsistent ball behavior and glitches

Requested features

5 requests
  • Instant replay and save clip feature
  • Point difference counter
  • One ball roll-off for tied games
  • Option to disable crowd noise
  • More realistic ball physics and behavior

Bowling Sim

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Ball bouncing off the alley or rolling backward
  • Pins not resetting correctly after a frame
  • Keyboard not appearing for player name entry

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add landscape mode for tablets
  • Improve pin physics and ball behavior
  • Implement more realistic scoring and pin feedback
  • Provide an ad-free paid version

In-app purchases

15 purchases

PBA® Bowling Challenge

One-time15
  • Lonely Pin Pack$0.99
  • Pin Party Pack2 variants$1.99
  • DNA Bundle$4.99
Show 12 more
  • Paragon Pearl Bundle$4.99
  • Black Widow 3.0 Bundle$4.99
  • Black Widow 2.0 Bundle$4.99
  • Plenty of Pins Pack2 variants$4.99
  • Dark Side Bundle$4.99
  • Hypnotize Bundle$4.99
  • Weber Bundle$4.99
  • Venom Shock Bundle$4.99
  • Pile of Pins Pack2 variants$9.99
  • Pin Island Pack$14.99
  • Pin Freighter Pack$19.99
  • Pin Freighter Pack$24.99
None

Bowling Sim

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PBA® Bowling Challenge free?
PBA® Bowling Challenge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bowling Sim free?
Bowling Sim is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PBA® Bowling Challenge or Bowling Sim?
PBA® Bowling Challenge is rated higher. PBA® Bowling Challenge averages 4.7 out of 5 from 131K ratings, while Bowling Sim averages 4.5 from 444 ratings.
Do PBA® Bowling Challenge or Bowling Sim have ads?
Both PBA® Bowling Challenge and Bowling Sim show ads.
Which is updated more often, PBA® Bowling Challenge or Bowling Sim?
PBA® Bowling Challenge ships an update fortnightly, and Bowling Sim every 2 months. Most recently, PBA® Bowling Challenge was updated on September 24, 2026 and Bowling Sim on September 18, 2026.

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