You know the type. Its not a bad game. It starts out fun. And soon youre in the wallet game or never-ending grind to get a 3-Star whatever. Then a 4-Star. Then a 5-Star. All these games just feel generic, derivative and almost identical with some cosmetic differences. And the fun goes away ultra-fast, and turns into a pay-to-win or endless grind model. I guess I need to stick to paid games nowadays. These F2P clones bring me no satisfaction.
To answer your question... "no". Not all f2p games are equal. You may as well have asked if we're getting tired of mobile games or video games in general since we keep plugging away to complete levels, etc. Even though the f2p format dominates the mobile landscape (and has its presence in console, Steam, and handheld gaming.. such as DS and PS Vita, but I suppose we could count Switch as both console and handheld), there are still plenty of titles via premium. Amongst f2p, there are plenty of games that let you sample the game, and see whether if you like it or not, without spending ANY money. If you hit a paywall you don't like, just quit the game. It's not like there aren't a plethora of alternatives. Some of them you can get quite far without spending ANY money. Others, never mind throwing a few bucks to $20 the devs' way, that's enough to go even further. IIRC, articles state that f2p now, vs. freemium, helps curb piracy. The phrase "people pay for stuff on iOS" is grossly mistaken. (for example, while the 1st Monument Valley had 95% piracy on Android, it was still 60% on iOS*). AFAIK, most of the money paid is for nongaming apps and software. For games, there's a culture of expecting stuff for free (since, it is the internet age), and if it isn't free, then there are plenty of alternatives within the App Store, or amongst other forms of entertainment. Last but not least.. so called "whales" exist in some way or form in many businesses. For example, movie theaters make most of their money from concession sales. NOT admissions. Many restaurants make their profits from high margin items like alcohol and drinks. Coffee shops do well since Starbucks pioneered paying $4 for a cup of coffee as "something that's acceptable". F2p in mobile gaming was inevitable, and thus, I'm surely NOT surprised. I will wrap up in saying the only F2P game I do is Plants Vs. Zombies 2. I'm still avoiding updating my iPod Touch 5 from ios7, and Ipad Air from ios8. The latter is the only thing it runs on. When it requires ios9 (or ios11 due to 64-bit not being supported anymore), I'll see what my options are then. The only other f2p I did on iOS was Castlestorm: Free To Seige. It was fun, but as you described... felt "overly grindy". I spent $5 to unlock some advanced bonuses, but after several months of playing it, I quit it. I also bought it for PC/Steam for $15. Not having to deal with gems was quite worth its cost! Besides those 2, there's also the natural limitation of time. I still have a large backlog of games for Android, iOS, Wii, and PC/Steam that I'm at a point where f2p isn't really the obstacle nor bottleneck. * http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/monument-valley-made-5-8m-despite-high-piracy-rates-2921192
I never liked free to play until Badland Brawl happened on 22 December it is still in soft launch but its the first free to play game I realy like, its very addictive and fun to play, I call it Angry Birds 2.0
That's why even experienced developers still use F2P format. I think that if the game is good and well designed, ads shouldn't get in the way. I've seen successful games like Rusty Lake or JELLIES! do this.
