"I'm gonna get your wallet, sucka!"

Clash of Clans

Long-Term Review

By now if you a smartphone, and like games, you probably know about a little freemium game called Clash of Clans. Like that the developer, Helsinki-based Supercell, pretty much makes so much money off of in-app purchases (IAP) over CoC, that they can take money baths every day. 

I first started playing Clash around 6 months ago. Despite my best intents, I am  now very guilty of contributing to their IAP bottom line. I've bought many, many in-game virtual items for hard currency. The very nature of the compelling and addictive gameplay makes it almost a requirement. As in World of Warcraft addictive. But the game does pretty much almost force you to buy stuff after a certain level. Your fort becomes your avatar, and if you have played the game a while, you start to feel very protective of it. Other players can attack you, and steal your hard-won resources. You obviously have military defenses to protect yourself, but sometimes they aren't enough, and gold and elixir you've been hoarding for days gets stolen from your coffers.

So what is a player to do? Build stronger, and increasingly more expensive, defenses. Which can take days to upgrade. And when your defenses are upgrading for days, that don't work. The only protection, is a Shield. If you get really badly mauled in an attack, the Shield will protect your fort for up to 16 hours to give you time to repair and rebuild. But a reasonably strong defensive cannon takes days to upgrade, and costs and atrocious amount of gold. Gold that takes days and days to gather. But once the 16 hour Shield expires, other players can attack, steal your gold, and prevent you from getting enough resources to strengthen your fort. 

So what's a player to do. And this is where the real world, hard currency comes in handy. You can buy a

Shield from the App Store, that will last for up to a week, gather resources and upgrade. Beyond, say, Level 40 in the game, making an IAP is not a luxury, but a requirement if you want to advance. 

But Clans is such a fun game, I don't begrudge or resent the money I've paid over the past months. I've spent much more on PC or console games that were terrible. I've played freemium games that were beyond obnoxious in time-gating the most trivial things for an egregious amount of real money. Clash of Clans is a happy addiction worth the cash. 

Clash of Clans: Update(s)

Version 3.25 Released

and a small confession...

Looks like our good friends at Supercell in Finland have released an update for Clash of Clans. I won't take up (not) valuable space to list all the changes, but you can find the particulars here.  New unit upgrades, traps, hero improvements, and leaderboards, to name a few. Again, if you are not playing this game, you are sorely missing out on one of the best Free-To-Play titles out there. Combat, base-building, compelling player vs. player - you name it, it has your flavor of gaming crack.

And now, my confession. I actually broke down and made an IAP (In App Purchase) in Clash of Clans. 500 Crystals, to be exact, which cost me $4.99 USD. But the game made me do it - seriously. I was hovering around Level 30, and needed to upgrade my Town Hall to Level 7. A Level 7 TH unlocks a slew of additional buildings, as well some much needed upgrades. Unfortunately, a Level 7 Town Hall requires 1,200,000 gold. Unfortunately times two, I would amass around 400,000 gold, and someone would attack me, and steal 100,000+, I'd get a 12 hour or 16 hour Shield, regain the 100K gold, be attacked again, and lose said gold. Lather, rinse, repeat, Sisyphus.  And so, I buckled, and got a 7-day Shield. To me, this is was a shocking discovery, as there seemed to be no legitimate way to gather the necessary resources without paying for the additional Shield time protection. And to date, Supercell have made IAP a 'want', not a 'need', in order to progress in the game. Not sure what the solution is - increased Shield time based on your level perhaps?

But in the end, I can't say I felt all that cheated - for a game that's given me more fun than many a  $60 retail console title, $4.99 for some crystals for CoC seems like a bargain.

Clash of Clans

It's Clan-tastic

 

Review

A few weeks ago, I posted an entry that examined how some free apps make money hand over fist via in-game purchases for real money. One of the games mentioned in the original Wired story I reposted was Clash of Clans by Supercell out of Finland (Moi Suomi!). Out of curiosity, I downloaded the app a few days later, and discovered that  spending hundreds of dollars on a "free" game suddenly became to not seem so crazy.




 The Clash Part:

Clash of Clans, at it's a core, harks back to the late '90s, when real time strategy games ruled the gaming landscape. Build a base via harvesting resources, research and upgrade units and buildings, train troops to attack and defend, all the while having a good old time. It's set in a fantasy world of goblins, barbarians, dragons, and the undead, among others, with the player tasked with attacking evil warlords bases wherever they lurk. Pretty standard fare - until you introduce multiplayer into CoC, with other players attacking your base, or you attacking theirs. It introduces the element of tension, anticipation, and low-down scheming that really makes the game shine. Each player's base has a "Shield" last from a few hours to a few days. When the Shield is active, no players can attack you, and you can't attack them. But once that Shield is down, it's every player for themselves. You can raise an army and go out and plunder other player's bases for loot. But they can do the same to yours.  Successfully defend an attack on your base, or win an attack against another player, and you also gain trophies, the quantity of which determines how powerful you are. Lose an attack on your base, and the Shield gets turned back on, protecting your base while you make repairs and re-think your defensive layout.

The Clans Part:

If the idea of constant attacks seems off-putting, there's a solution. Join a Clan. There are dozens of Clans around the globe to join. Clans are essentially your gang - use them to solicit troops for attacks or defense. It's a simple game mechanic - fellow Clan members ask for help when needed, and you can do the same. There's also an in-game chat, which is great for hints, tips, gossip, and generally hanging out. Don't confuse this short description of Clans with it's importance; like may simple things, it's as powerful as you make it.

In closing, Clash of Clans definitely warrants all the love it's been getting lately. It's a perfect mix of good game design, good art, and beyond robust multiplayer. Just be prepared to lose endless hours having a blast.