Watch App Store Spotlights Some Serious Gaming Garbage

Just a few days ago, I wrote of the potentially bright future Apple Watch has in the gaming space, whether as a dedicated platform for microgames or a second-screen/haptic peripheral for iPhone and iPad (and Apple TV!) games.

Of course, the pickings are slim at the moment, and watchOS 2 has done little to ameliorate the situation. Native animations are still unavailable to developers, and though video support has been opened up, that still relegates all in-game feedback to pre-defined GIF-style graphics. Admittedly, that puts game makers in a tight spot. In other words, there’s a ton of bad games on Apple Watch.

And this one might be one of the worst:

Cthulhu vs. Your Mom Gold seems to be some sort of generic Whac-A-Mole garbage with no redeeming qualities on either Apple Watch or iPhone. The first half of the games’s trailer looks cool enough, but then — rather appropriately — it gets pretty whack.

But it gets even worse: This app is being actively promoted on Apple’s iPhone Watch App, sitting in the Featured section as a shining example of a $0.99 “Quick-Fix Game.”

That’s embarrassing, and it certainly calls Apple’s curation process into question. The simple fact that this game is getting the hat-tip from Apple is distressing enough, but the potential damage runs much deeper as disappointed customers will undoubtedly (and in short order) become convinced — incorrectly — that gaming on Apple Watch is a non-starter.

If you’re somehow actually interested in Cthulhu vs. Your Mom and dont want to spend any cash to see how bad it really is, there’s an iPhone-only free version you can download. The experience on the small screen is basically identical, so at least you’ll know what you’re (not) getting.

Remember, a dollar saved is a dollar earned.