Microtransactions

Okay, I knew that the android was full of apps that were rife with microtransactions. I knew a lot of these freemium games started easy and then grossly inflated the difficulty so you had to follow a set strategy or pay mad money to buy powerups. I knew this when I bought a tablet. What I didn't expect was just how much they try to cheat you.

I have Plants vs Zombies on PC. It was my first experience with the game but I knew there was a mobile version as well. Today I purchased PvZ for my tablet. This is NOT a freemium game. I bought it outright for money, yet the first thing that happens upon loading is an ad for some other popcap game. I don't want ads in the games I buy, maybe in the free games, but its unacceptable to have an ad in a purchased game.

Still, its  great game and aside from that annoying ad at the main menu it seems to be a complete game. Feeling like they can be forgiven because it is a great game that I enjoy I decided to download PvZ2 and give it a try. I am so disappointed. It is the same game, except they expect you to use real money to purchase plants. Or so I thought, apparently most of the plants (which will set you back $5 each) and upgrades (which are over $10 each) can be unlocked in the game just by playing through it. Nowhere is this mentioned. Most, if not all, of these plants are from the previous game. Half way in through the first world (which outs me around 20% into the game) and I have yet to see anything new apart from skins, and a superpower that is to be used when things get too difficult (aka when they artificially ramp up the difficult to make it impossible to play without spending money.)

I'll continue to play as long as I can without spending anything and report back when I reach the limit or beat the game.