Clay Jam Classic review - "Still fun and colorful!"

• Clay Jam Classic is rereleased on mobile
• Wacky and colourful clay characters
• Simple, arcade-style gameplay

In 2012, when Clay Jam first came out, I did not have a smartphone. I'm not exactly sure what I was doing, beyond primarily gaming on PC, but I did have love for claymation. So, when I saw that Clay Jam was rereleasing in 2026, as Clay Jam Classic, without any of the in-app purchases that previously were in the game, I wanted to see if it stood the test of time!

Clay Jam Classic is a particularly simple mobile game, where you can draw a sort of path within the clay hill that a ball is rolling on, moving that ball around the map. You'll be aiming to roll over a bunch of other clay creatures and items on each map, making yourself bigger so that you can then speed roll to a monster (often called a bully) at the end of the level, blasting them off. When you first start, as you are so small, you can only go over a few of the enemy types that do have have exclamation marks over them. If you hit things which are too big, you will lose some of your clay and get bounced back. Moving forward also feels mandatory, as a red fog will continue to climb the screen, looking to eat you up before you even get to hit the bully!

The claymation characters are really adorable. All of these have been hand-animated. They are full of colour and really seem like such a fantastic fete, especially as all of the little menus are also clearly made of clay. The gameplay itself feels wacky and simple, not outdated, but like something that would be extremely fun for a younger audience. The characters that are running around or appearing on the map are silly and full of imagination.

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At the end of each level, you do get some clay and a number that shows how far you hit the bully. The clay can then be used to unlock more characters that appear on the map or to increase the map size, which can help you end up hitting the bully further. I do see where in-app purchases would fit into Clay Jam Classic, but it does feel fun without them, and the pacing is very nice. 

You can also use the clay to purchase new maps that follow new themes with new bosses. There are five hills in total, each with its own characters and bosses. All of the maps also have power-ups which can be unlocked after you hit specific milestones in blasting off bullies, which can do things like shrink everything on the screen or point out agressively where stuff is that you can roll over. 

As someone with no nostalgia for Clay Jam Classic, I still found the game to be quite a fun, casual arcade game with so many fun creatures. It seems like a simple game and with no in-app purchases, it's quite a good one to download!