Juice Jam - SGN

This review of Juice Jam was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 10 June 2016.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of Juice Jam contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

This app was reviewed to level 10.

App description

Juice Jam is a match-three puzzle game. The objective is to identify groups of fruit that are similar in type within a board of randomised items, and to match sets of three or more by swiping across the screen. The skills required to play the app include problem solving, as well as motor skills to utilise the functions of the app.

Reviewers comments

When the app is first opened, players are presented with a screen containing two options: one to connect to the app via Facebook (and receive 25 free in-game gold coins as a reward), or a ‘Not Now’ option to continue without signing in. They are then told that ‘thirsty customers want drinks! Make matches to fill the orders’ – in order to do this, players must match three fruits of the same type. They are presented with a large checkerboard-style screen containing random images of fruit (e.g. apples, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, etc). When a customer places an order, they request a particular kind of fruit, and a particular number of pieces, to be included. Multiple customers can place orders at any given time and there is a Ticket Box on the right-hand side of the screen which displays how many customers are left for a player to serve. In order to match fruits in sets of three, players must swipe across their device screen to change the position of certain fruits – fruits can only move one block to the left, right, up or down. For instance, if there are two bananas next to each other, and another banana with a blueberry in the way, players must swipe the blueberry in the direction they wish for it to move – as a result, a set of three will be obtained. Once this is done, the set of fruit disappears from the board and new fruits replace them.

Players have a set number of moves within each round to utilise in order to achieve the desired goal. After they have served all the customers, the app presents players with a pop-up screen displaying their score, best score, and number of stars achieved as a result of how many moves they used. From here, they also have the option of inviting Facebook friends, or ‘sharing’ their score via social media.

Making bigger matches can create power-ups. For example, a square match (of four pieces of fruit) creates a rocket, which then turns a piece of the same fruit into an ‘energy blaster’, destroying fruit surrounding it. As players progress through the game, levels become increasingly challenging and more power-ups are unlocked (e.g. making a ‘L’ or a ‘T’ shape with fruit items results in differing positive outcomes). The game also incorporates ‘boss battles’, where players are presented with particularly difficult customers and they are required to match fruits in order to gradually deplete his health bar. The customer is then seen to fall over, appearing sick – players are congratulated with a ‘You win!’ bar. 

Within the app, there is an option to use real-life currency to purchase in-game gold coins. These can be used to buy lives within the game – if a player cannot successfully complete levels within the number of moves allocated, they are able to utilise lives in order to have further attempts without needing to restart the level. Once these lives run out, they cannot continue attempting that level without starting over. Gold coins can be bought within the in-game store in packages of 25 coins for $1.29, 135 coins for $6.50, 275 coins for $13.01, 575 coins for $26.04, 1475 coins for $65.70, or 3125 coins for $130.14.

The app contains a Map Overview, which displays the levels that are available to play through. There are 1060 levels available to complete. The game also contains an Achievements section, with listed achievements such as ‘Collect 100 apples!’ or ‘Earn 15 stars!’.

In App purchasing

Yes: Within the app, there is an option to use real-life currency to purchase in-game gold coins. These can be used to buy lives within the game – if a player cannot successfully complete levels within the number of moves, they are able to utilise lives in order to have further attempts. Once these lives run out, they cannot continue attempting that level without starting over. Gold coins can be bought within the in-game store in packages of 25 coins for $1.29, 135 coins for $6.50, 275 coins for $13.01, 575 coins for $26.04, 1475 coins for $65.70, or 3125 coins for $130.14.

Online information

When the app is first opened, players are presented with a screen containing two options: one to connect to the app via Facebook (and receive 25 free in-game gold coins as a reward), or a ‘Not Now’ option to continue without signing in. Between levels, players have the option of ‘sharing’ their scores via Facebook also. At random points, pop-up screens appear during gameplay which additionally encourage players to connect via Facebook to receive free coins – these must be manually closed.

Gambling

No gambling content was found during this review.

Advertising and product placement

N/A.

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

N/A.

Coarse language

N/A.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

The game incorporates ‘boss battles’, where players are presented with particularly difficult customers and they are required to match fruits in order to gradually deplete his health bar. The customer is then seen to fall over, appearing sick – players are congratulated with a ‘You win!’ bar.

Other

N/A.

Got a suggestion?

You can contact us if you have suggestions of other children's apps to review.