loose - to - play games often look likeable , but it ’s difficult to do it at a glance whether the business mannequin is insidious and fun ruining , or reasonable and worth pumping a few bucks into . With Freemium Field Test , we ’ll take a recent complimentary - to - play iOS game , put it through its paces , and let you fuck if it ’s really worth your meter ( and money ) .
feel overwhelmed by garish , freemium - fueled puzzle games likeCandy Crush Sagaandits successors?Two Dotsisa favourite here at Macworld , as the beautifully minimum puzzle sets a shiver tone while still offering a challenge , and does n’t feel like it was plan and equilibrize specifically to sell in - app purchase .
And if you dig Two Dots , then you ’ll emphatically desire to give a look toDots & Co , the new follow - up that put a few fresh twists on the dot - clarification expression . While you ’ll still tie together like - color dots to clear them from view , Dots & Co introduces raw associate character that shake up the matching gameplay — and there are pinch to the devoid - to - play example , as well .
The pitch
Here you ’ll ask to not only shatter the remaining ice spots , but also spread out the water all around the board . With two moves will ? Not happening .
Like its predecessor , the gameplay in Dots & Co looks fantastically simplistic compared to some other compeer - three puzzle favorites , but there ’s more shade below the control surface . You ’ll connect side by side like - colored dot by describe a line between them , whether it ’s two battery-acid or 20 , and you ’re given only a certain figure of moves to fill out each degree .
However , you’re able to also make squares and rectangles with four or more DoT , which not only clear those from the board but also every other dot of the same colour . The accusative changes with each new puzzler , whether you ’re trying to bring in a certain amount of each people of colour ’s dots , spread a puddle track around the intact screen , or shatter all the glass blocks by matching the Zen feel beneath them .
And the fellow traveller play a theatrical role now , too . As the title suggests , Dots & Co shit these fresh faces a large part of the experience , as clearing the episodic triangle companion dots that pop up will bear down a companion ’s time and unleash a special ability . Anita the penguin , for example , will explode every battery-acid of a undivided color once set off , while Emilio will knock off volatile icons on the instrument panel that paint all nearby acid the same colour as they ’re cleared .
Boosting the companion gives you a big advantage in the stage ahead .
well yet , each associate can be boost at the starting line of the level to immediately use their ability , not to mention foreshorten down on the number of crystalise fellow traveler Department of Transportation needed to use it again and again . That ’s a big welfare that can often be the difference between struggle with a degree and well , haphazard completing it — so naturally , there ’s a fee for that .
The catch
promote a fellow traveler be three keepsake , which lets you grease the wheels and take some of the pungency out of any stage . On the other hand , failing a stage and pay off for a continue costs nine tokens , which gives you five excess move and throw away five more companion dots on the screen . In short , it ’s a heap tatty to further a stage in forward motion and taste to insure victory , but you might be more desperate to pay triple at the end when you ’re a few moves aside from get ahead .
You ’ll get a small hoard of free keepsake at the start , which can be well spent in moment without much attempt , but I did n’t receive any more after playing dozens more stages . Instead , they ’re sold in big money ranging from 10 for $ 1 to 1,200 for $ 100 , with the 50 for $ 5 and 105 for $ 10 packs look like the sweet spot for most histrion . Whatever the spend , a continue cost a little less than a dollar , while boosting is closer to a quarter per level .
It ’ll cost almost a dollar sign worth of item to continue , but it can be alluring when you ’re a few motion by from finishing .
Can you work without spend ? entirely , but the episodic jolt of intense challenge mean you ’ll sometimes butt your head against a level over and over before in conclusion overtake through . It experience less severe than in Candy Crush , where sometimes it seems about - impossible to build up without spending money on boosts or cover , but those difficulty spike remain . Ideally , if you spent a few buck on a pack of item , you could spread out them out and only utilise them to boost a companion when you ’re really stuck .
And there ’s an free energy meter , of course of instruction . The system of rules is sort of clever , but can occasionally feel cruel too . You ’ll pass three deadbolt ( out of a recharging total of 15 ) to play each stage , but can earn them back by winning . Typical , right ? However , if you only get one or two star or else of three , you ’ll only get one or two bolt back , respectively . That can create position where you complete a level but do n’t have enough energy to play the next one without look , which is frustrating .
Independently scrolling layer make the magic function sieve one the good constituent of the total experience . Really !
Each bolt takes 10 minutes of tangible - life waiting to recharge on its own , which means 30 second for each level play , or you could spend 12 tokens to top off the time at any sentence . It ’s still a liberal and very worthwhile biz that is n’t dilute with advert or aggressive prompts to buy the exchange premium boost , but Dots & Co does have a bit more freemium luggage than its harbinger .
The verdict
Luckily , that ’s not a big hurt to enjoyment : Dots & Co is just as entertaining as Two Dots , while the Modern gameplay additions open up up a lot of new possibility that are search over the course of a bunch of levels . You ’ll find 155 of ‘ em here so far , but seeing as Two Dots has nearly 800 level by now , I surmise Dots & Co ’s content reckoning will gradually build quite a bit .
The double energy and token numeration and light freemium irritations might make Dots & Co a little less mellow than its predecessor , but it ’s still delightfully attractive — the scrolling layer select projection screen is marvelous — and has heartwarming background music . And on top of all that , it ’s a deceptively smart little puzzler that ’s well deserving savoring whether or not you spend .
