spare - to - play games often take care appealing , but it ’s difficult to have intercourse at a glance whether the business model is pernicious and fun ruin , or fairish and worth pumping a few bucks into . With Freemium Field Test , we ’ll take a recent destitute - to - playing period iOS game , put it through its paces , and let you know if it ’s really worth your time ( and money ) .
reset the numbered Ball means include them in a like - colour in jumble of at least that many . This one ’s tricky .
While Disney has a tendency to slap its characters ontogeneric puzzle biz retreads , or overstrain its original estimation until theyfeellike generic retreads , the Mouse House does sneak out a reinvigorated , fun mobile plot every so often . The originalWhere ’s My Water?was one , before all the sequels and spinoffs grew deadening , and nowDodo Popis another .
In truth , it feels a bit like a mash - up of subsist mystifier conception . It ’s a color - fit game , like many others , and it has the unstable jumble - of - icons approach likeDisney Tsum Tsum(made by Line , not Disney itself ) . But unlike that biz , Dodo Pop is a slowly - paced , methodical affair , tax you to maneuver and clear enough of the coloured gumballs to discharge each stage . Dodo Pop does n’t feel quite as inspired as Where ’s My Water ? , but it ’s quite solid — and it ’s a very fair free - to - sport entry .
The pitch
move out enough of the same colouring material in a reach and you get this peculiar ball , which can blast any others within its course . It ’s a huge strategic boost .
Dodo Pop quickly establishes the cute premiss of helping a flightless dodo bird get back home by run him loads of bubble mucilage — so he can be adrift home in a very Disney - esque manner , I presuppose . But really , it ’s all about equalize together like - colourise gumballs that shift and drop in a expectant pile . Match two or more and they ’re clear with a tap ; the further down they are in the level , the more gumballs will fall and move to fill the blank space .
Since clearing gumballs always requires a water faucet on your part , you ca n’t lay out up Candy Crush Saga - style Sir Ernst Boris Chain reactions . However , you may strategically “ move ” certain colors into office by clearing the other gumballs below . And it ’s necessary to plat out your moves and seek to remove big lump of balls at the same meter , as each stage gives you a limited bit of move to meet the objective .
Sometimes the end is simply to clear a issue of sure - colored ball : 36 light-green , 30 yellowness , and 30 red , for example . In other stages , you ’ll happen balls with telephone number on them , and the only means to win is to come out those in bunches with at least as many like - colored balls as shown . Elsewhere , white gumballs with dark-green champion are all you need to elucidate , but they ’re scattered all around the layer , make move them into tightlipped proximity the substantial challenge .
afterward stage sometimes include obstacle , like the shifting barriers here that can thwart your heedful tactical manoeuvre .
Whatever the task , there ’s a courteous , steady , and thinly strategic calendar method of birth control to Dodo Pop . This is n’t the puzzler that ’ll have you biting your nail and screaming at a near miss — it ’s the game you dally to wind down at night , or fill a few moments in your day with pleasant mystifier solving .
The stagecoach occasionally throw in twists , like turgid gumballs that must be used multiple times before evaporate , obstacles that prevent you from tapping certain balls , or moving pieces that shift the makeup of the control grid . But I did n’t encounter any Brobdingnagian twists along the room — and thankfully , no particularly ill at ease or off - putting monetisation tactics .
The catch
call Dodo Pop ’s free - to - play exemplar a “ grab ” feel inordinate , because there ’s really nothing out of the average here for a freemium puzzler . It has a limited lives system and paid power - ups , but that ’s all par for the grade . you may surely spend a load of money if you want , but the plot does n’t find particularly pitch towards that , nor do the hard stagecoach seem as nigh impossible as some of Candy Crush ’s .
A Candy puppy love - like function , but no daylong wait at borders or begging Facebook friend for access ? Kudos , Dodo Pop .
In fact , you ca n’t even beg Facebook friends for extra lives , or to unlock restrictive logic gate on the single-valued function screen — I did n’t encounter any at all across the few dozen microscope stage I played . spill the beans about a missed opportunity , Disney ! Kidding , of course — perhaps to make thing a little more friendly to kids , Dodo Pop keeps out some of the more egregious freemium excitation , and it ’s all the undecomposed for it .
You ’ll have up to five lives to burn with stage loss , and each take away 30 minutes to reform — a long wait , for certain . you may spend 20 coins to replenish your lives , and the only packs sell are 20 coins for $ 1 or 110 coins for $ 5 , so it ’s about a buck either way . Likewise , if you get to the end of a peculiarly tricky stage and you ’re only a twosome move forth from completion , 20 coins will buy you five more moves . I did that a few times , having expend $ 5 on the magnanimous coin pack , but the investiture never really seemed necessary . A little strategy and skillful pop can get you through most stage without too many headaches .
Dodo Pop does n’t bother with massively expensive bags of coin , although that means less likely savings for anyone expecting to spend a big money .
Dodo Pop also has a couple of paid power - ups : one that let you eliminate any single gumball on the map ( useful for clear up a route for gravid bunches ) , and another that turns all the orb around a select one into the same color . At first , I worried that stage would start to rely on these agiotage perk , making them sense necessary rather than optional — but it never pan out . This really is one of the more balanced , high - profile liberal games I ’ve encounter in a while .
The verdict
Dodo Pop goes for a cute and cuddly smell in all regard , whether it ’s the adorable expression , the quiet appeal of the house of cards pop , or the tractable business model . It may not generate quite as much excitement or addictive exuberance as some of the other puzzlers transcend the App Store chart , but at least it never truly nettle with its freemium intention . And that ’s a twist as sugary sweet-flavored as the gumballs you ’ll tap .
