Pay2Win: The Tricks Exposed

[Leisher]

If you have zero interest in ever developing a mobile game for profit OR have no desire to understand the tricks game developers use on you and your loved ones to squeeze money out of you, then stop reading.

At $5 this game is WAY too expensive, especially since it's not really a game. It's an interactive lecture. Although, it could absolutely be filed as educational for anyone writing a game, and thus, could be written off.

You start up this F2P "game", and eventually, you'll be spending money (not real) for P2W. Each quest is a new lesson to be learned, and things are sped up via ridiculous pricing. The tasks are intentionally pointless, repetitive, and devoid of interesting backstory.

To finally become the most powerful player on the server I think I spent $1300 and change. Your reward? See for yourself.

Also, the final secret is stupid. Not kidding. It has nothing to do with game design and is just a question about finances. I also think it's extremely wrong due to the addiction purposely created, I think it goes beyond just finances into ethics territory.

Someone could probably google all of the lessons/lectures within the game and not pay the $5. However, I do think doing the activity is important to further teach the idea at play.

Once you have played this game, you could sit down and discuss the content for far longer than the game lasts (I started playing it on and off around 4 p.m. today, went to dinner at 6 p.m. and didn't pick it back up until 10:30 p.m. This later playthrough had me playing on my phone while a mouse clicker was running... (Get a freeware mouse clicker before you play, trust me.)

I don't know if there's two hours of content, but the lecture parts are interesting. Like I said, this should generate a lot of discussion. For example: You know the games with tons of ads, but aren't selling you shit constantly that reeks of P2W? Turns out they're the "good guys" of mobile gaming.