Let's have a look at the immoral gameplay checklist:
Timed energy: Check
Triple Town is free to play forever. Eventually, you will run out of moves, but they replenish for free if you wait a while, and you can also buy more moves with free coins that you earn in-game.
Incentivized ads in-game: Check (wrong for both the player and the advertiser)
Update: we've added a 2-minute mode that you can play free, forever, as much as you want, by watching advertisements in between play sessions.
This is the real price of the game:
If you want to eliminate the move counter altogether, there is a one-time fee for lifetime unlimited moves.
Sorry to be blunt, but make a game with real value - not a casual puzzle game with a limited move energy - and the players will buy it.
For some nice mobile packaged games see Avernum and Avadon, Silversword, Mission Europa or The World Ends With You and Ghost Trick.
"Sorry to be blunt, but make a game with real value - not a casual puzzle game with a limited move energy..."
Have you played Triple Town? You can argue about the ethics of how the developer is making money, but the gameplay is ridiculously solid. Casual or not, it's a genuinely good, original game with a reasonable amount of depth to it.
> For some nice mobile packaged games see Avernum and Avadon, Silversword, Mission Europa or The World Ends With You and Ghost Trick.
I can't believe Avernum is still around. I remember my friend playing it on his Mac when we were kids. And I heartily second your recommendation of The World Ends With You. Great game.
The last two games you mentioned are from powerhouse studios, Square and Capcom, and were not likely to be profitable or popular in of themselves as Premium priced iOS games.
Timed energy: Check
Triple Town is free to play forever. Eventually, you will run out of moves, but they replenish for free if you wait a while, and you can also buy more moves with free coins that you earn in-game.
Incentivized ads in-game: Check (wrong for both the player and the advertiser)
Update: we've added a 2-minute mode that you can play free, forever, as much as you want, by watching advertisements in between play sessions.
This is the real price of the game:
If you want to eliminate the move counter altogether, there is a one-time fee for lifetime unlimited moves.
Sorry to be blunt, but make a game with real value - not a casual puzzle game with a limited move energy - and the players will buy it.
For some nice mobile packaged games see Avernum and Avadon, Silversword, Mission Europa or The World Ends With You and Ghost Trick.