Is anyone else a person who loves games but is disgusted by Clash of Clans (and anything else that uses any business model invented by Farmville)?
The goal of freemium games is to A) keep people playing your game only and B) get them to buy IAP. Problem A is solved by giving them copious amounts of free in-game items/currency...which makes solving Problem B harder as players have less reason to buy. Oops!
Developers have split the difference by offering the players exploding one-time bundles, but usually those bundles are still disproportionately priced.
I'm happy that more people are experiencing games, but I'm disappointed that the most visible games in app stores are those that nickle and dime you to death.
There are still games that offer you better value and don't participate in IAP shenanigans, but I'm worried that the number of developers that find success in this business model is very small.
Now I'm afraid to try Boom Beach lol
I think the reason I've not put as much time into games the past year is that it's just hard to find a ~3 hour chunk to play through a questline. Versus Boom Beach where I can pop on, smack talk my group of friends, attack the daily boss a couple of times, and be done in 15 minutes.
Witcher 3 is as different from 1 and 2 as Assassins' Creed 2 was different from Assassins' Creed 1. I recommend it
It's a 2D sidescrolling platform game, with one-button controls; this keeps skill involved. Traps consist of a three-trap set; you can upgrade them for damage (and buy a dev-made "optimal" setup), but you can't grind for 50000 level 1 walls (or level 99 walls, for that matter). Scoring is separate from currency; the gemswhich contribute to your score can be sold for game currency, but never bought. There's a Farmville-style gem mine tmechanic, but unless your traps are perfect, you'll get more from stealing other players' gems.
TL;DR: Clash of Clans is much better when grinding is nerfed.