When it comes to video games, I’m pretty easy to please. If you were to look back at the articles I’ve published here, I haven’t really ripped into a game or severely criticized one. I also haven’t written too much about mobile games. I’ve played many, really enjoyed a few, but avoid the majority. A game like Pac-Man Friends is why.

Pac-Man Friends was released in October for Android and iOS devices. On iOS, it’s available for purchase at $2.99, but the only option on Android is an ad-supported free download. I tested it on my Google Nexus 7, so I was relegated to the free version. When I booted the game, it crashed. When I rebooted it, I was greeted with an ad. When I completed the first stage, an ad was presented before I found out my score. When I moved to the next stage on the world map, I was met with an ad. I may have spent more time dealing with ads than playing the actual game in the five minutes I spent with it. The actual gameplay had Pac-Man chomping pellets in small, confined stages.

It’s harsh for me to judge a game based on so little playtime, but personally, I don’t think Pac-Man Friends was worth my time. Besides the omnipresent ads and the easily completed stages, the game ran terribly on my tablet. As I mentioned, I had to reboot once and afterwards, the game still had bouts of unresponsiveness. Perhaps the ad-free iOS version would be less bothersome, but what little of the game I witnessed made it seem like nothing more than a trite, time-wasting mobile game.