Yeah, I agree. Since I bought the sheep in first place, I have to go back to play several times to purchase the tiger. It happens again in world 2. My strategy is to gather coins for the plus coins helmet (15000). After I get it, don't have money for the dragon. But the helmet is actually help me a lot since I don't have to grind too long to get the Epic Dragon (though tracing back each level to search for the shop that sells the ingredients is a bit annoying). And there's a level in world 3 that I think is impossible to finish without purchasing other help (if I'm wrong please tell me how) which is Sapphire Tower. I have my help from the sheep, but I think this level is actually created to make use of double soda. I'm almost finishing this game and I do like it a lot (playing for 2 hours non stop just now). It has great graphics, nice gameplay and highly polished. But I also agree to some people who feels that this game is like freemium because there are lots of suggestion notes to purchase items (which is barely possible to purchase) and the gate barriers (purchase this or you won't be able to advance). In my opinion, since the game is launched in Spain for free and the first description also highlights the word "free to play", perhaps it is indeed intended to be freemium, but maybe since many people can finish the game without buying any IAP, they launch it worldwide with initial payment of 99c. For me, I don't mind buying this game for 99c because of its high quality (in fact I do think that 99c is more appropriate than free, because developers need to earn income too). But then again (hopefully I'm wrong), I'm not surprised if this game going to drop their price to free in a very short time. For those who likes Puzzle Bubble, this game is a must and for 99c you will get more than any other bubble shooting game. But yeah, if you like perfection and collecting all aspects of a game, prepare to grind a lot of bubble shooting!
What bugs me to no end is that Supermagical almost has it all - wonderful hand-drawn graphics, interesting world and characters, funny story, greeat music, simple, proven, addictive basic mechanic - and yet instead of creating the best game in the genre, it's like they purposedly decided to "handicap" the player, forcing it to suffer in the hope of improving the game. It's very different from freemiums, where the gameplay is the same for everyone, but you pay to play more or to reach your goals faster. You don't pay to unlock features that otherwise wouldn't be in the game at all - you pay to "cheat" or to get desirable stuff faster than your friends, so you can brag about it.
That's a perfect sentence to describe my feeling on playing this game. And yes, it has all the ingredients for the perfect bubble shooting game but one flaw, it obviously forces us for IAP. And I believe lots of people feels it too (just look at the most helpful review).
I don't get all the IAP complaints here. I have played for a few hours and am well into the second set of areas. I have one star on some levels and 2 or 3 on others. I have only spent in-game coins on candies, the necessary unlock items and a few entries to play the card matching game. I have never once gotten close to zero coins or thought about buying more. At least up to this point, I don't need the other upgrades to progress and I have only replayed levels a few times at most. Given the polish and excellence of the game, even though I am not big on bubble shooters, I think this is an outstanding value. What am I missing?
Yes, a great game; flawed by an overly aggressive IAP model. It doesn't ruin it completely, but you have to admit that it would be better if they went with a traditional pricing model and balanced the game accordingly. It's important that we separate those two points so we don't debate in circles anymore. It's tiresome and unproductive.
You're right, it's fun and super-polished. Unfortunately, without IAPs or grinding you can't access all of the upgrades and fun items. That makes it less than it could be. I enjoyed this game so much that I bought an amount of Chococoins that I felt the game was worth ($4.99). The game played perfectly, no grinding, unlocks and spells came at exactly the right time, and it was still challenging. I couldn't buy everything, but forcing a player to choose upgrades is a very valid design point. Not letting the player buy ANY upgrades without grinding is not. The game is easily worth $6, and I don't regret spending $6 (total) on it. I just wish they balanced it that way up front with a single purchase price so I could play it the way it was meant to be played on multiple devices or with multiple installs.
He doesn't have to admit that. He doesn't even have to agree. Different people like different things. Part of what leads to "debating in circles" is when one person insists that other people have to admit that he's right, about matters that are ultimately matters of personal preference and opinion.
Apologies. I meant that "objectively" speaking, the game would clearly be better with a different pricing model. Refusing to acknowledge a sound point is certainly a God given right, unfortunately, it's also what turns a debate into a churlish argument. Like this one.
There's no "objective" way to determine what makes a game better or worse. It's all a matter of personal preference. Some people like what you like and some people like the opposite. Plenty of people like games which encourage grinding.
I think this front-page TA reviews has the answer: Another minor issue lies with the currency model, which can be extreme if you plan on getting all the additional hats and items. Granted, you can certainly grind out currency, but the game doesn’t do a good job explaining that many story-related advancements are contingent on purchasing items. If you blow your cash on a supplemental item, you may find yourself having to replay a lot of levels to earn enough for the story items (or shell out for IAP). Granted, Supermagical’s levels are actually fun to play, so I don’t have too much of an issue with it, but I imagine it could get tiring for some gamers. I feel the need to grind because one reason: I bought the sheep that they sell in the very first shop - and that sheep is not even that useful. I know that I'm short of cash when I need to buy the tiger (end of world 1) so I don't feel like restarting the game. And yeah, I do enjoy the grinding, thanks to 3 stars timing system.
Really... So that means that you can find a single post in this thread that thinks the IAPs are a good thing? The best I can find is people who are willing to overlook it. I eagerly await your response.
Sure. For example: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2404962&postcount=171 It doesn't sound like he'd rather pay $4.99 instead.
Ok, I'll bite... He loves the game, and comments that he hasn't had to buy any IAPs. That doesn't sound like somebody who likes IAPs. Regardless, I'm out. It's time to relinquish this thread to those with gameplay questions. If you're really spoiling for an argument (this is certainly no debate) feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to press my point further.
I'm assuming most people who pay $0.99 for the whole game, and enjoy it, prefer that to paying $4.99, and enjoying it. The thread is tilted toward complaints because people are more likely to post their complaints, and TA forum members are more likely to be anti-IAP in general.
No idea why getting the tiger is so hard for you guys... I emptied the first 5 shops, have levels that I've only 1 starred, and was still able to get the Tiger when I needed it... =o/ are you guys picking up the 3 bags of gold around each stage after you complete them? Have you entered the secret world 1 level, and what about using all your coins to get more currency with the card game?? Really... after spending what I've spent, you'd have go crazy on items to not be able to get the tiger...
Yeah I don't get why a lot of people are complaining I have made it close to the end without hitting a pay wall. You just can't use your coins up on powerups and junk. You don't need that stuff it's not that difficult. You can spend them for that stuff but you just need to play more to get more coins. This game is great and I highly recommend it. And it's quite challenging too which was a pleasant surprise! Great art and music! Great work devs
Ok, it's not that we only answer to bugs and praise about the game. I see there has been a debate towards Supermagical's IAPs for a while now, but I cannot really even try to convince the people who are against them because your mind is already made up, which I totally respect. BUT, let me be honest here for a second, ok? Please bear with me: We've been working on this game for 1 year and a half (and counting), 6-people team, slaving our ass off for 10+ hours a day, thinking, breathing and obsessing over Supermagical to surreal extremes, only to try and make the best game ever on iOS. Ok. The game was supposed to be free-to-play because our publisher comes from that background, so we geared Supermagical towards that business model. We release the game first in Spain to gather some data and correct some issues before we give the go-ahead to the worldwide version of the game. And then the game, some days, gets ONE download (one!!!) per day. We barely made 300 for the entire month in Spain being free to play as it was: Super-nice item prices, low coin barriers and all. Still the cool items were expensive and my artist heart broke a little bit knowing that many people would not even see an entire layer of awesome stuff like hats, pets, gums, level ups, etc, that make the game even more awesome than it is, just because they were too expensive. But OMG those numbers...we were not even near making minimum wage for a year a half of development just to see the game having 1 download some days and making 300 in a month just before worldwide launch. What a lousy future we could foresee for the game and us! We were doomed! BUT then an idea came out at the last minute. Someone thought: "Hey!, it's a huge game, polished and all, easily worth 5-6 dollars by App Store standards on its own. So why don't we tag the game at the lowest price entry (99 cents) and get the items a bit higher in price, including the continent barriers? I mean, people will get at least 4 hours of quality gameplay on the first continent only (which is far more than you get most of the times with other "games") for less than a dollar, plus we give them 10.000 extra coins to spend around? That way if some users like the game and want to pay a little more for some extra coins then we can get also some extra income that can pay for the actual game's quality and we do not feel like giving our work away. Plus, if other players want to replay some levels, there is a nice star system in place to have a go at and "soft" that grinding feeling. I mean, at least the game does not completely STOP for two damn hours unless you pay, as it happens with some TOP 10 grossing games, right?" So yeah, we thought we got all our bases covered...We would maybe, just maybe, get the game's value it deserved, people would be happy to have many choices and reviews could be good. Right... We didn't remember about the TA users!!! Hahaha OMG!! Some of you guys are incredible! haha. Anyways, we really take into consideration all opinions here very seriously. In fact, I wrote an angry email to our publisher yesterday which I deeply regret due to some TA's user opinions, so yeah, I even go to war for you guys sometimes. Just want you to know that. But please also note we devoted so much time an effort trying to make an insanely polished game full of stuff to do that we just want to get also something out of it, at least enough to be able to make our next game. Yeah, we love making games! But I also totally get why to are so attached to your dollar. Our main sin is probably try to make games that cost to develop 1 and a half years on a market that spends 2-3 months at most. So maybe this is not the right platform for us...who knows. Yes, we have made 3 games, and all 3 have been Editor's Choice. Not many studios out there with those credentials, let me tell you. Anyways, sorry for my long non-sensical and incoherent, uh...rant? It wasn't even a rant! But yeah, those who feel like the game is cheating on you or trying to steal some Chococoins out of your pocket, we respect you, we hear you and we'll try to reel you back. Thank you anyways. You gave the game a chance and we love you for that. At least you do not hate the game for being just BAD, right? 'Cos that would be depressing for us...haha. And those who are enjoying the game right now, just paying a dollar 'til the end or making an IAP or whatever you did to keep going forward, well, thank you too! You helped us a great deal! Have fun with Supermagical! (or not!) -Enrique.
Well, many people on the forums do appreciate the work put into your game and I hope you do continue to develop for the iOS platform. Also know that the internet is full of people with no passions of their own, so they try and tear down someone else's. Play games because they're fun and you enjoy the experience, not because you want finish them as soon as you can. Otherwise, why are you playing in the first place?
