Available for Windows 10 PC and Mobile, the free game sports modest graphics with plenty of detail and color that is reminiscent of "Where the Wild Things Are" children's books. Gameplay has a fair amount of challenges with only a single shot at tossing a ball through a series of underground tunnels to eliminate the monsters.
Hand Toss takes a slightly casual approach to physics-based gaming. It's not an overly complicated Windows 10 game, but it's generally fun to pass the time with across 48 levels of play.
The design of Hand Toss is simple. The main menu greets you to start with, with options to play the game, choose your ball style, purchase lives and hints, view the developer information and mute the game's sound. The gameplay is spread out across three chapters, each with 16 puzzling levels to tackle.
The goal of Hand Toss is to eliminate monsters who have dug tunnels beneath your garden, destroying everything in sight. Stopping a monster only requires you to hit them with a ball, but you must navigate twists and turns of the tunnels these monsters have created.
Hand Toss's game screen has your garden and monsters scattered along the bottom of the display. A shaded area in the upper third of the display serves as your launch area and gaming statistics run across the top of the screen. These stats include a game timer and hint button. Any projectiles available are also displayed at the top of the game screen.
To take a shot at one of the monsters, simply tap and hold the screen in the shaded area. A trajectory line appears and if you slide your finger around you can adjust your aim. Sliding your finger up or down the screen increases or decreases, respectively, the velocity behind your throw. You only have one shot, and while you can bounce and roll the ball to strike the monster, each level has a ten-second timer that starts with your toss. If the ball stops or doesn't reach the monster without hitting it, you fail the level.
Levels progressively become more difficult as you work your way through the game. You have grassy banks and wooden platforms to bounce your ball off to reach the monster. In the second chapter, you face multiple monsters in a level and barricades that must be destroyed with boulders before your ball can have a clear shot at the monster.
Should you get stumped on sorting out a path to toss your ball, Hand Toss has hints available to guide you in the right direction. The free version includes one guide or hint with the option to purchase additional guides through in-app purchase.
Scoring is one to three stars, based on how direct your toss is before it hits the monster. When you reach certain cumulative star counts, additional ball styles become available. Styles include a pumpkin, 8-ball, doughnut and more.
Hand Toss is a Windows 10 game with potential
All in all, Hand Toss is a fun game to pass the time with. The visuals are on the minimalist side, but they still look good. My only axe to grind with Hand Toss is that you cannot pinch to zoom out to view the entire game screen. You can swipe down to view the tunnel maze, but the launch pad view often cuts off key areas that can help you plan your toss. This is especially true with the Windows 10 PC version of the game in which you are essentially making a blind toss.
While there is some room for improvement, if you are in the mood for a casually paced, entertaining Windows 10 game Hand Toss is worth a try. If you have given this Windows 10 game a try, let us know what you think of things in the comments. Also, you can share your thoughts on the game with the developer in this Forums Discussion.
