DISCLAIMER: I've played the game just for 2 hours, I'm halfway the second world, sitting on about 13K gold (already got the tiger, some keys and some other mandatory object, defeted 3 sisters). I had no problem so far and I think the game is damn good, but people complaining for the artificials paywall (easy or not) are bringing in some damn valid points which can be applied to a more general trend (that I hate, more on that later). I read the thread before buying, and I must confess that I'm probably getting LESS fun from the game than it's supposed to be because I HATE grinding and I would be really pissed off if I couldn't continue because I already spent my money. So I'm not buying ANYTHING bar the mandatory items...and I think I'm missing a lot, including a lot of nice graphic the artists made for the game. It's a pity....the initial sheep, useful or not, just SCREAMED to be bought. Saying it's 'just a bust a move' clone so 'grinding' is the very gameplay core is imho absolutely not true and it doesn't even make the game justice. The game, in my book, is much more similar to a Puzzle Quest or Clash of Heroes....it's a (very) light RPG-Adventure, STORY based, with bust a move mechanics. So...at least to me, the main push to play it is enjoy the story playing a tried and true mechanic, beautifully presented. And this game seems to have it all. It's beautifully presented, nicely done, has EVERYTHING to make it a classic, bar the artificial paywall. I'm saying artificial because, in the game world, it feels to me absurd I have to pay for....a tiger? It clash a bit with the general coherence of the whole game (they even try to explain Manuel ubiquity...which I like a lot). I would have much preferred if that was somewhat tied to the story...like...the tiger is the only animal able to pass the mountain so you have to get it before approaching the second world...and you do so with a puzzle with bust a move mechanics. Regarding grinding. Sure, every RPG/adventure makes you work your way to buy some better gear (not changing world tough) but here, every stage is fixed. That's imho the real problem. It's just repeating, very same starting configuration, no increasing difficulty...it's the very definitition of (boring) grinding to me. If there were a 'arena' type of stage things would be a bit different, but there isn't, so far I've only saw story based locations (and I like it so). As I said I have yet to have any problems with the game, I like it a lot but yes...I too feel it would be a better game if BALANCING was made without iAPs in mind (the real problem of many games today), even if they were really generous, as they probably were. I perfectly understand why the devs made this decision (in all honestly I was glad when I heard it wasn't a free to play game anymore, fearing the classic free to play odd balance), but I'm not sure this had made a better game or bring more money to them (I really hope for them tough!). Maybe an higher upfront cost, considering they have been even featured, and a 'normal' balancing could have bring more money to them but I do not know...I hate the idea to pay even 1 dollar for consumable iAPs, I prefer paying more upfront. Haing said that...I'm really enjoying the game and the countless touches the devs poured in this game, it oozes quality (love the secret zone in the first world)...contrary to the majority here I'm liking a lot even the dialogues with the sisters. The only thing I'm scared about is to reach the end of one world to continue the story and being stuck playing even 10 minutes some old (always identical) level to proceed, so I'm not probably enjoying the game at its full. I would appreciate a list of the required money for each world...so I can plan ahead and spend the rest in those very tempting gadgets and hats.
Pitta: I'll start the game over again (my Manuel experiment completely destroyed my financial balance anyway) and list the costs for you. p.s. I like the Sisters' duels too
Wow thanks! It was more something directed to the devs, so they can come up with some idea to smooth this thing out, even a text would do. The 'locked until you pay' world would have cought me in surprise too, if I didn't read the thread before. I still think the game is damn awesome tough, still undecided if this iAPs thing prevent it to be a classic.
Yeah, just finished the game and it just freezes during the ending. I finished the game by buying only the necessities (tiger, dragon, and all of the keys), the sheep and no other animals, never bought any candies, not buying any warlock's upgrade, experimenting two small pinatas, buying the helmet for extra coins, creating the double soda potion, collect all the hidden secrets and bag of coins, and I have only 4000 coins left. I like the game and I respect the dev for telling in honesty that the game is designed to be free-to-play with notes to buy the IAP (no need to argue again, even the dev is clearly stating that this is intended to be free to play). For those who hasn't advanced to world 3, just wait till you have to own the epic dragon. You have to travel from one city to another in search for the shops who sell the ingredients. Of course you'll think," Damn, I should buy the tortoise." But then again, the coin is restricted and there you'll have the feeling that this game screaming us the IAP. Also for those who hasn't bought this yet, this game is not just bubble shooting. There are other elements like hidden objects (to search for coin bags), matching game (in Manuel's shop), choose your story (in sister's battles), and of course RPG. It's fantastic. But just like everybody says, to me, the flaw lies in the barriers. It will be better if Manuel gives us warning in the beginning that we need the tiger to pass the world, but the tiger needs some coins (or a thing that need to be purchased) and Manuel sells the thing in every single shop that he has. This way, we aware that we have to save some coins in order to advance, so that the tiger doesn't become a shocker (especially lots of gamers like to experiment with the pinatas, buy an animal, or even helmets-so that they will be shocked because of the tiger). Questions for the dev or whoever fans that can answer: 1. What is the purpose of Developer's Check? What is the meaning of increasing the level? Is the level will become harder? 2. Is it possible to clear the Sapphire Tower level without purchasing any helps?
Thanks for your impressions!!! As soon as I read you need the Dragon and saw each ingredient is scattered and you have to click on every damn waypoint, I thought the very same. This is an excellent suggestion. And I would prefer too to buy an object (like magical taming food) to get the tiger, instead of paying for a tiger (just for world consistency).
While the sheep seems useless (even sometimes annoying) in early stages, it eventually really helpful in later stages (especially in world 3). And yeah, don't forget to buy all epic dragon ingredients in world 2, it is a necessity.
Yes, 3 worlds. In world 3, all items that we missed to buy from world 1 and 2 is back on sale. It reminds me for another tip, when you realize that you need the double soda, there are ingredients that are not available in world 3. I have to browse each shops to find it and as far as I remember, I find it in two of the bottom middle/right worlds in world 2. It will be helpful so that you don't have to visit each shops one by one.
Hi, just got the game (thanks GnomeEscape!) and I was shocked this only costs 0,99$. It is worth much more in my opinion, such a great game! But then I read this thread... I'm a bit worried now: what should I buy and what not? Are there any key items which, if I miss buying them, won't be available in the game in the future?
Hello again, guys. Ok, I see we kind of have the forum divided. That's actually alright because at least it means that you guys care so the game must be somewhat good!haha. First things first: bugs. Yeah, I'm sorry about the ending bug. It's a shame and we are still in awe that something that big got overlooked, specially after testing the game like crazy. This is game development and things like that just happen. The update was submitted last Thursday, so it's in Apple's hands now. On a side note, we also fixed the iOS 6 beta crash, so the game will work on those devices too. Ok, some people asked me if we felt like the game was worse thanks to the IAP's system. Well, as usual I'll try to be honest here. As a game dev, I'm not exactly in love with all the free to play business. I just think it kind of ruins most game experiences and I don't like it. BUT, then it seems that the majority of iOS and Android users love it, right? So if we want to be able to pay rent (which is something we have not been able to do yet in 3 years of iOS game development with 3 out of 3 games on the Editor's Choice, so most of team has alternate freelance jobs), then it seemed it was the route to go for us. Just like that. Questions: 1. What is the purpose of Developer's Check? It was just kind of an inside joke. Originally was thought to be an instant IAP by itself, but then thought people would hate it or Apple would have not approved it. 2.What is the meaning of increasing the level? Level ups are only for warlocks. Their powers get increased with those in a dramatic way, so they make the levels easier to beat up, as usual. 3. Is it possible to clear the Sapphire Tower level without purchasing any helps? All levels can be cleared without purchasing any big stuff like gums or anything like that. A nice bag of candies and the right warlocks should do the trick. Cheers!
So it's just that? Well thanks a lot!!! I've already 13K and the tiger...can I safely spend the excess?
You can always backtrack, so don't worry about missing items. Just don't overspend - you'll need some coins to buy mandatory items & keys to unlock cities and areas. Here's the list of mandatory items (I'm drafting this as I play the game anew): Laziness Temple > Flying Massage Bed = 500 coins Gluttony Temple > Picture of Gluttony = 500 coins Greed's Temple > ABBA Contract = 500 coins Wood Towers > Wooden Key = 1000 coins Super Dark Cave > Bright Eyed Tiger = 8000 coins Lust's Temple > Wi-Fi Broom = 1000 coins Iron Towers > Titanium Key = 3000 coins
Haven't bought yet. Question to Dev: When you replay a stage, is it somehow random or the exact same? Question to IAP dislikers: Would you have paid $3.99 for this game cause that is what it seems like it'll cost you likely if you bought almost enough IAP to pay for unlocking world 2 and 3?
Question 1: the level configuration (minix colors and placement) is the same, you shoot with somewhat different bullets though (the color order varies a bit) Question 2: probably not, the most recent full-price games ($4 or more) I bought were Orc: Vengeance and Magic 2013. However, when done well, I spend rather a lot on IAP (examples: Cabals, FIFA Superstars, CSR Racing, Gun Bros, Death Rally etc)
Yep, the spell you use are generated a bit differently each time you play a level. Thanks, but Supermagical's not on Facebook!
Well well....I spent another 2 solid hours with the game (middle of second world) and the more I play it, the more I'm totally sold, iAPs or not. I'm no pro in this bust a move games, but I loved every minutes of 2 stages...one was the Watchtower something...took me ages but I finally found a good Warlock combo (the polar bear and the mage that summon Floppy...I *LOVE* when it burps on the Minix). Fantastic experience, really....got a nice Puzzle Quest vibe trying to combine the spells....really curious about the versus mode now. I still think that the 'pay for tiger' idea was a wrong one (direct paywall without any warning, non trivial cost..the second one is split among many ingredients so it's not that bad imho) and it will bring to devs and game more problems than benefits but the game is damn good, I still recommend it to whoever is even slightly interested. It's made damn well and it's damn fun...to me anyway. As others said, just keep in mind to save about 9K gold for each world (other mandatory items are not that expensive...I'm able to rake about 1300 gold per stage, and I have 1 star almost everywhere). I have no problem to 'grind' to buy ADDITIONAL/OPTIONAL items...as in any RPG; they seems fairly priced too. Buying just the mandatory items, I've an excess of 5-6K gold per level (always sitting at 14K now). I'll probably complete the game doing so, then after unlocking everything (I hope we can continue playing a sort of infinite mode in the world) I'll try to 3 star every stage and buy the cool gadgets. At least their artist deserves it. A question...is there one secret stage per world?
Yes I would preferred to pay more for the game and have it balanced for a normal playthrough (to me it's not a matter of money, it's a matter of balance). As strange as it seems, I have no problem in paying 10 dollars for the game and prefer doing so than even paying just 1 dollar of consumable iAPs. Unfortunately I'm the minority here, so I have a really cool game that I paid almost nothing for that I'm enjoying slighly less than I would be because of the balancing of the game (a bit off to accomodate the iAPs). I paid less, but the game imho is not as good as it could have been. It's a trivial discussion tough...because the (SAD) reality is that priced at 10 dollars nobody would have bought it, so devs wouldn't be able to pay the rent and we wouldn't see anything more from them. And I really hope, as much as I do not like it, that this decision is a good one for their sales, because I definitely want to play more games from these guys.
