Inspired by a comment made today by Exact-Psience, I decided to create a thread where we could list the freemium games that really nail it, where balance, fun, and awesome gameplay combine without forcing the IAP's down your throat and you actually want to buy the IAP just to thank the developer for the experience. At the same time feel free to list the games that you feel failed it miserably with pay walls, full screen ads and frustrating gimmicks. There is a love/hate relationship with the model. People bicker any time they have to spend more than $1 on a game and yet we refuse to buy games that carry ads or in app purchases. Here's your opportunity to share which IAP you tolerate and which ones you don't, which games do it right and which ones do it wrong. Bon Appétit!
I dont know what i said to move you into making this thread, but im in on the topic. Freemiums done right: Legend of the Holy Archer Phoenix HD Zen Pinball Run N Gun Temple Run / Temple Run 2 Pitfall! Puzzle Saga Robot Unicorn Attacks 2 Voodoo Friends Zombie Parkour Runner
^^ Those are all good examples. A few more recent ones would be Dead Ahead and Maximus. Quadropus Rampage isn't out on iOS, but it's also an excellent freemium done right. I could probably write a novel on all the games where freemium has been done wrong, but the ones that irritated me the most were Real Racing 3 and Dungeon Hunter 4. And almost EVERY game that attempts to go from paid to freemium.
Imbalanced Grindfest Freemium games (good games with bad grind-balance): Iron Man 3 (too bad coz the gameplay here is fantastic) Agent Dash (i completed this one without any IAPs, but it is a total grindfest still) Subway Surfers (same with Agent Dash) Sonic Dash (same with the above, with the additional frustration of possibly losing your gathere's rings while running) Into The Dead Verticus Injustice iOS (never spent IAPs on this one except for the starter pack, and it's still a grindfest, i spent too much time on this one to have reached where im at in the game now) Ninja Slash (one of the most enjoyable rnners i've played, but the coin balance makes it hard to progress in it) Eternity Warriors Super Monsters Ate My Condo (really sad about this one. You have to grind to stay competitive)
Here are some games I have or have downloaded in the past that it think did freemium right. Jetpack Joyride: It's still a bit of a grind, but you'll never notice it because you'll play the game so freaking much. I decide to buy the coin doubler. Into the Dead: I actually feel the exact opposite of Exact-Psience on this one. I think the money gain extremely generous, and the ads are unobtrusive. I also think it has a feature that removes those ads if you buy any IAP, which I think is a nice touch. Punch Quest: Also extremely generous in currency, plus the game is fun to play. Lots of stuff to buy, and it never costs an arm and a leg to get each of them. iGunPro (HD) (SD) (Lite): This is an app, but the way this freemium is done is that you earn 10 coins everyday, or you can use Tapjoy to download games that give you 100-350ish coins each. It's extremely generous, and the fact that I have every skin and gun out of HUNDREDS thanks to Tapjoy tells you something. I will return to list the games that I think did freemium wrong.
Baseball superstars - absolutely right great balance and also allows great game play for free as well
... and then you look at top "Grossing Games Apps" and all those F2P games. I think that it is the best and sad example of Freemium done Wrong (from the player's point of view) ;/
You might be right, but based on my own experience, unlocking the skins still take almost forever, even with the doubler on. If you think that unlocking everything in the game isnt grindy, feel free to express it. As for me, it did feel grindy to unlock everything.
Real Racing 3 - you will disagree with me but I think the game is done right. It isn't as good as RR2 but for a freemium game there isn't too much push for IAPs . Yes , we have got the timers but you can play for at least an hour without needing to wait.
Is there such a thing as freemium done RIGHT? It seems like most people who talk like that are really just saying they want a game they don't have to pay for. As much as I like to get things for free, I think "balanced" freemium is a curious movie for developers (if not outright dull) for the reason that many users will not pay. Even the ever present App Store price of $0.99 is practically free to begin with and imbalanced for the work that seems to me many games require to develop. It's interesting to see the economics at play in App Store. "Balanced" "freemium" reminds me of those "pay what you want" social experiments you hear of every now and then (informative "pay waht you want" wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_what_you_want). I would rather pay more of the same "balanced" game without IAP than get it for free with totally optional IAP. Some examples of free (just free) games that have optional IAP are Aurumn Blade, SOL: Stone of Life, and Punch Quest,
TheEndApp - it is a free runner with tons of IAP, but if you buy the premium IAP (2.99) it becomes the fairest runner in coins and upgrades without having to grind too much (IMO fairer than Jetpack or Punch Quest/subway surfers even with the coin doublers)
Endless runners aren't a particularly good example to use when talking about balance in terms of "grind", because their entire premise (and gameplay) is "grind". Take Robot Unicorn Attack, Temple Run, or Into the Dead: whether you're one minute or one hour into the game, the gameplay remains the same, and whether you've got ten gold or ten million, you're still just doing the same basic thing the whole time you're playing. There's no real progression in the content in these games; even if you finally get that new outfit or powerup you've been working towards, the gameplay in any given runner is going to remain pretty much exactly the same as it was before you earned that.
