I know what you’re thinking right now. Bowling? Really? That’s the best you could come up with?

Well, no, I have plenty other apps up my sleeve, but let’s remember: bowling is a legitimate sport. Created some time in the 1800s, in the 1950s and 60s bowling alleys became immensely popular in the United States, so much that the LA Times described them as “small cities in themselves” in reflection over the millions of dollars (and people) allocated toward this burgeoning sport. Today, bowling exists with much less vivacity than it did in its golden days, but it’s still a local venue in many towns and cities peppered throughout the United States, and in other countries, like Australia, where its popularity once rivaled that of rugby and soccer. The AMF World Cup – arguably the Wimbledon of the bowling world – stands alongside the World Tenpin Masters and the Weber Cup as the largest, and most prestigious annual, international bowling competition; the World Tenpin Masters is, apparently, the world’s leading televised bowling tournament due to its dramatic setup of a single lane buffered on all sides by terraced seating. Now, bowling may seem a little dull on the surface, but once you watch those powerful curve balls and lightning quick tosses, topped off with that magical, clacking of the pins as they fall down, hopefully in a strike, then you can understand how bowling can be exciting. But, really, it’s just plain fun.

When I saw Action Bowling Free, I immediately remembered my most recent visit to the bowling lanes. No, I wasn’t eight – shockingly, I was 25, because it was a mere few weeks ago. A friend nostalgically wanted to bowl at the AMF lanes in Petaluma, and like any nighttime event, there were drinks, black lighting and offensively white teeth, loud music, and the echoing clatter of leaden balls striking wooden pins. Before the iPhone, it was hard to recreate the experience of live bowling – or any sport, for that matter – but now that we have the iPhone (and the Wii), miming the act of throwing a ball has become so much easier. In Action Free Bowling, you use your iPhone as a you would a bowling ball,  swinging it back and letting it go as you move your swing forward. Let’s be clear – don’t throw your iPhone. We at Appstruck encourage you to hold onto that expensive phone with an iron grip. I guess I should take note, since I already flung my phone across the room, in a frenzied, excited burst of bowling energy. No, instead, you press down on the screen with your thumb to start the swing, then simply lift your thumb as you “let go.” It’s great. If you want, you can take it to dramatic lengths, holding your iPhone right beneath your chin and squinting your eyes, imagining those pins several yards away, then stepping into your swing and letting it rip full throttle. Or, you could be lazy and take the touch gesture route, flinging your finger onscreen to make your ball roll. The motion controls make for a more difficult game, especially since you can twist your wrists to the right or left, mimicking the movement it would take to throw a curveball or hook. The game really encourages you to play around with the physics – and those physics are much better than other bowling apps I’ve tried.

In the full version, you can customize bowling ball colors, change your environment to any of 12 different bowling alleys, play in practice mode to improve your form, play with multiple players on one device (this is a real plus), and lastly, engage in a chipper, if odd, round of bowling history trivia. I only have the free version so far, but it suits my needs perfectly. I definitely wouldn’t mind a change in bowling ball color – the game’s default is a crummy brick red with the usual, cheesy, tiger stripe striations – but funnily enough, you can customize your bowling style in the free version to a small extent. If you access the Settings page, you can choose to favor either a straight, a curve, or a hook throw; or, you can select the custom field, and customize your spin and speed. Pretty cool, if I say so myself, but not as cool as having the option to turn the music to silent. The music isn’t bad, by any means – it’d be perfect in a techno club circa the mid 1990s, or just anywhere in Europe – but it does get repetitive, and is somewhat ill-fitting for the sport of bowling. With this kind of music, I expect the game’s bowling lanes to be decked in cosmic colors, with black lighting and neon strobe lights. Hey, now there’s an idea!

The game is straightforward enough: try to knock down as many pins as possible, have fun, and watch the game keep track of the score for you – to make it more lifelike, the screen is set up in a mirror example of a real bowling alley. My form greatly improved near the end of my first round, but I still only scored a pretty low 134. My next round through, I was up to 280. It may not translate to real bowling, but if I buy the full version, at least I can knock down my opponents, and then maybe one day knock them out on the real lanes. To my surprise, bowling still ranks as the number one participatory sport in the United States, with 54 million Americans ages 6 and over bowling at least once a year. How can that be?, you may ask. It seems bowling is easy for anyone to pick up – pay a small fee and all the equipment you need is immediately within your reach, and playing entails a simple swing and roll of a weighted ball. Even kids can master the between-the-legs roll and knock down a few pins. Anyone can love bowling, and Action Bowling Free just takes the fun home.