So yesterday I had a couple of people comment on my thread, I haven't gotten around to downloading every one and trying it out, and a lot of the people kinda blindly game me cool games but didn't describe what they were about and how free they were. This is the spreadsheet i'm working on currently, as you can see it details the extend of how 'free' these games are, whether they have ads, whether they have timers/lives/hearts/energy, giving them a rating and all-around whether they're a fun game or not. If anyone wants to chuck in a few games with their own writeup too, that would be super super cool and i'll happily add it in https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17035N0PVrbTc4VkOKuDfl5sztg-J9_RunstcBWx0N_0/edit?usp=sharing
Castlestorm: Free To Seige + Plants Vs. Zombies 2 To anybody else, feel free to copy and paste the template and fill it in Castlestorm: Free To Seige 100% free: yes It's possible to do 100% free: it can be. However, the following help you progress faster -spending a one-time $5 (i think I got it for only $3? Don't know how though) by buying the VIP Gamer IAP. Doubles XP, and you get 10 gems + 2500 gold per week. >XP unlocks one time, windfall rewards like abilities, gold, and gems. >Gems are the game's premium currency >gold is used to buy stuff too. However, for some purchases, the gold will transition to requiring games. For more basic stuff, at the very high levels, they require lots of gold, like 40,000 worth of it! >Pearls are a 2ndary premium currency. There's a whole conversion chart of converting Pearls to Gems or Gold. The more you convert at one time, the better the ratio/exchange. You get these by doing the SP "challenge mode" (although payout is only once per tier unlocked) and the daily levels (which give you up to 25 Pearls for days 1 through 5, and 50 Pearls for day 6 + 7. Day 6 and 7 are the same session) Contains PvP Gameplay: yes, although not mandatory. Otherwise, there's are SP modes too. Namely... campaign mode, "challenge mode", and a "trice daily level" that requires constant internet connection to play Contains lives/wait timers: no timers except in "thrice daily online levels". Wait 3 hours, or pay Gems to play the next leg ASAP Note there is an "artificial time limit" if you need to wait for the weekly rewards for upgrades. Also doing enough daily levels for Pearls to get gold and/or games to spend on. Another layer is.... You're encouraged to have Gems as you're going through the campaign as they give you a one-time 50% off discount. For example, if you take advantage of something that's 35 gems, it'll only be 17 gems. Decline, and you no longer get that discount again. Also, the "pick a random spot" has you pay gems for extra spots to pick, and some of the prizes are discounts on stuff that are use it right away or lose it. No lives restrictions. Non-compulsory pay-to-advance-faster: No. Contains wait timers for building etc.: No. (it already does it's "damage" as previously mentioned). Well, sort of. You need to login daily to keep up your weekly reward, and to continue building up your weekly raffle/random pick. For exmple, for week 1, the grand prize may be 100 Gems. By week 7, it can be 380 Gems! Ads?: Yes. 2 types, both videos... 1) in-game ads between every 3 to 8 screens or so. These are removed if you spend any amount of $$ 2) You can watch in-game ads on your own to get 1 gem apiece Rating as a 'free' game /10: on AppStore, 4.5 stars out of 695 ratings My rating, 4 stars. This game was a blast to play. It was fun and witty, translated not too shabbily for an IpT5, and playable on the go. The grinding for gems basically meant you're huddled around wifi, and taking advantage of it away from home. At least you can do other things while that's running. Grinding for Pearls got frustrating at times, but was mostly easy, if time consuming. Managed to get 1400 or so Pearls. Traded in 1,000 (the max exchange rate) for gems. Didn't want to get another 600 Pearls to get the 2nd thousand. However, I'm done with this. If I want to play this again, I'm loading up the Steam version I paid $15 for to avoid all the freemium stuff. Also b/c it's much nicer playing on a 26" screen with keyboard + mouse, despite being tethered to a desktop PC. ======================================================== Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time 100% free: Yes. It's possible to do 100% free: Yes 1) There are premium plants that cost real $$. They're not required, even though some are meh, nice, to OP-ed 2) There are premium plants that cost Gems (in game premium currency). Gems can be in short supply at first, so you may miss out on limited-time plants that cost these. Gems are also used for a few cosmetic-only, costumes. 3) permanent upgrades like Shovel bonus, starting with +25 sun, 8ths seed slot, and 5th plant food slot cost $3 to $4. early in the game, you unlock 1 of each of those. In the case of slots, it's the one before them, so the 7th seed slot for example. Contains PvP Gameplay None Contains lives/wait timers Campaign mode, endless mode, and Vasebreaker... no For the daily, online Pinata Party, yes. It's every 24 hours after midnight local time For the Yeti Zombie Spotted event... it's roughly every 1.5 days. No internet required For the last 2, they're not required for the campaign, although the gold and gems you can get from them may help Non-compulsory pay-to-advance-faster -Gems are also used for a few cosmetic-only, costumes. -speed up Zen Garden plants. When done, they boost regular plants, affecting gameplay. However, I'm putting this here since you can usually just wait it out in real time. It's not as significant as other games I've tried. Contains wait timers for building etc. None. You're free to go through the campaign without waiting. They did away with the "lottery system" on getting keys to advance to the next zone. You're free to spend real $$ if you want to get their faster, butt I've always done so naturally. Ads? there are 2 types 1) image ones that you see between screens 2) ones you watch on your own for gold which are videos. (gold is used for some boosts that let you "god through a level") Rating as a 'free' game /10 4.5, out of 2930 reviews I'd give this 5 stars You don't need to spend ANY real $$, and I have enough gold that no level will give me troubles if I opt for it. ======================================================== TEMPLATE 100% free It's possible to do 100% free Contains PvP Gameplay Contains lives/wait timers Non-compulsory pay-to-advance-faster Contains wait timers for building etc. Ads? Rating as a 'free' game /10
