spare - to - play games often look likable , but it ’s unmanageable to know at a glance whether the byplay example is insidious and play ruining , or sensible and deserving pump a few bucks into . With Freemium Field Test , we ’ll take a late free - to - play iOS game , put it through its paces , and let you know if it ’s really deserving your metre ( and money ) .
Of all the many 100 of Pokémon available in the freak - catch franchise today , the subaltern Magikarp remains one of the least treasure . The dopey - looking orange fish have bulging eye and slacked jaws , and really ca n’t do a whole tidy sum . But they can jump , obviously , and it ’s enough to earn the brute their very own iOS game .
Pokémon : Magikarp Jump is in on the jocularity , clearly acknowledge how goofy it is that such a useless ogre would have its own competitive secret plan — but the contention is n’t very dynamic . You ’ll train the Pisces to climb up and then watch the proceedings unfold after a water faucet , but even education requires zero interaction . It ’s like a super - streamlined version of a “ clicker ” biz , but even as a Pokémon fan , I found it overly simplified to the point of ennui .
The pitch
You ’ll demand to champ all the food in sight to grow big and unassailable .
Magikarp Jump gets off to a fun head start , particularly when the town ’s city manager ( named Karp ! ) tells you that their “ Magikarp are more like Tragikarp these day . ” The town ’s bunglesome Pisces just are n’t holding their own in jumping contention anymore , and it ’ll be you , young trainer , that will guide them back to leaping supremacy in league after conference .
And so begins the routine . You ’ll tip on pieces of nutrient in your tank to gobble them up , which boosts your magnate and helps you grow in size . Also , you ’ll train to further better your skills — but much like the jump , that ’s also just a matter of tapping a clitoris and watching what come about . Even so , it ’s funny to see your Magikarp bust furiously against a punching bag , and the coloured , cartoonish smell is really endear here .
Still , without any real in - game fundamental interaction , the actual jumping contest turn tiring in a hurry . You ’ll tap the release , see the Pisces the Fishes leap into the aviation , and then find oneself out which one finally leapt the highest . If it ’s your fish , then you ’ll continue on to the next battle and do it all over again . And if it ’s the other Pisces the Fishes , then you’re able to go back to training — unless you ’ve maxed out that Magikarp ’s top degree , in which case it mechanically retires and you ’ll commence all over again with a young fish .
Tap the button and hope you ’re solid enough to endure .
This actually happens with startling frequency . Granted , over fourth dimension , you ’ll unlock Magikarp that can reach higher ability layer , thus allowing them to notch better leaps and fight in advance into tougher league battles . Still , having that hard roof on each Magikarp ’s calling really limits the play , and just as you start making progress , you ’ll have to start all over again .
And there are atrocious moments along the way , too . You ’ll run into random encounters where you have a probability to take home some complimentary coins or diamonds — or or else bring about your Magikarp ’s untimely death . It ’s truthful ! I tell my Magikarp to leap into a tree to snag an item , but a Pidgeotto swooped down and carried it away forever . It ’s heartbreaking stuff . On the upside , however , I have a Pikachu hanging around my pool and giving my Magikarp occasional grooming bonuses , so you have to take the trade good with the bad .
The catch
you could only aim so much before needing to take a breather . Just like existent life !
Pokémon : Magikarp Jump is definitely repetitive , but at least the freemium modelling does n’t fight back very hard along the way . There are n’t any restriction on basic play , so you may chomp up food and enter jump battles as much as you want .
However , you are saddled with bound on training token : you may have up to three at a time , and they recharge at a rate of 30 minutes for each one . If you employ them all , then you ’ll have to wait for more or potentially spend currency to replenish your supply . as well , there are conference full point that limit how often you may take exception opponents to jumping competition .
As far as currency goes , Magikarp Jump endeavor to be pretty gift . You ’ll make coins here and there , which are used to raise the benefits of food and education practice , as well as unlock unexampled shape of both other clock time . And then the premium diamonds ( also award here and there ) are used to buy an array of hooey , whether it ’s pocket billiards decorations that provide perks , or special items used to lure support Pokémon near your pocket billiards to help oneself with training .
Ten bucks for a Charizard helper ? Yikes .
That stuff comes bit by bit , but you may always spend on a self-aggrandising bundle of diamonds — but it ’s not cheap . The ball field wad mountain range in price from 50 diamonds for $ 1 to 2,150 rhomb for $ 35 , and depending on what you buy , they may not go very far at all .
want to get both a sweet-smelling background decoration and another helper Pokémon , I cast off a cool $ 20 on 1,200 gems — and like a shot spent nearly all of them between a Bronze Eevee statue and a residency from a giant Charizard . Twenty bucks blow , just like that , on a couple of small ocular perks that bring very underage , on-going perks . I should have reconsider .
The verdict
Luckily , there was never a point in which it felt like I had to spend money to get ahead in Pokémon : Magikarp Jump . On the other helping hand , there was never a prison term in which I matt-up powerfully motivated to either expend money or really seek to get ahead , because the travail cycle of ca-ca small procession and then starting over again just led to a sad malaise .
I still playPokémon Goregularly and now and again pop intoPokémon Shufflefor a few rounds , but even my honey for the dealership could n’t overcome my rapid debilitation with Magikarp Jump ’s limited routine . I ’d eff to see The Pokémon Company do more with the assumption and give you more interactivity and smorgasbord along the way , but unless that happens , it has been a astonishingly shortly - hold out distraction for this Poké - fan .
