Skylanders: Lost Islands

Making Money With Your Skylanders For Fun & Profit!

Strategies and tips for beating skyrocketing Skylanders costs. 

The economy in Skylanders: Lost Islands can be best describes as a bit like a dog chasing it's tail. To make money (gold coins) you need to send Skylanders on missions; missions require energy, which you can get by paying gold coins to grow energy plants. Gold is the primary resource you need in the game, as it's required to build structures, and to unlock additional elemental islands. Early on in the game, it's not that big of deal - the first islands you have to unlock cost around (and I'm going on memory here) 30,000 gold coins. However, at later stages in the game, say around level 20, the costs skyrocket. I'm currently at level 25, and to unlock the next island requires 750,000 gold! Given you're essentially on a fixed income, as the maximum amount you can receive on a mission is 15,500 gold coins, and 18,000 for a Sanctuary trip, it takes a lot of days and patience to amass that much gold.

So, lets look at a reasonable plan to maximize gold production in a 24 hour period. I did some number crunching in Excel, which I won't bore you with here (although e-mail me if you want to see the spreadsheet) to come up with a fairly easy way to bank around 40,000 gold a day, without having log into the game every waking minute.

Energy Production:

1) Have 15 Plant Fields

2) Grow Grave Diggers = they take 2 hours and produce 425 Energy

3)  Do this 6 times a day

4) Total Energy in 24 hours = 38,250

Gold Coin Production:

1) Have 6 Adventure Balloons

2) Go to Dark Water Cove (a 7 hour mission) twice a day - once in the morning, and once before bed

3) After the morning Dark Water Cove is completed, do 2 Cadaverous Crypt missions (this will leave some flexibility to deal with Trolls, Sheep, and the occasional Treasure Chest)

4) Do 3 Sanctuary trips.

Now Show Me The Money!

Total Gold in 24 hours = Net 37,200 (Subtracting Gold required to grow Energy Plants)

Obviously Sheep etc. will add the additional 2,800+ gold coins to get you to 40K a day. With a bit of coffee,  ADD, focus, and diligence, I've easily made 80K in 24 hours, but you have to log into the game an atrocious amount of time to get that much. The above methodology presumes a degree of having a normal life. Enjoy!

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.

Skylanders: Lost Islands

What Do Skylanders And The Island of Dominica Have In Common?

Part I

Perhaps you've heard of a little 'ole game franchise called "Skylanders"? You know, the one that made $500 million dollars in the US in 2012? To put that number in perspective, the island of Dominica, located in the Caribbean, has a GDP of $490MM USD. That's a lot of Skylanders for 1 little island. Eric Kain over at Forbes called Skylanders "Diablo for Kids..." That is an honorific that is not lightly bestowed.

Anyhow...onto the latest incarnation in freemium app crack: Skylanders: Lost Islands. On the surface, there's nothing about this game that is that much different than your average monster breeding and farming game, like say, Dragonvale. But the Skylanders personalities, perceived attributes, and the rich environments, while mostly just window dressing, serve to enhance and vary the game experience. Skylanders come in different elemental forms (Fire, Air, etc), sizes (Regular and Giant), Experience levels, which is sufficient to mix up the missions, quests and the tasks that can be performed under these constraints such that the game never feels repetitive. New Skylanders are gained every 5 levels, which is probably the most tedious part of the game, if you're not willing to part with real world cash to buy Skylanders, which is a real temptation. With 55 possible Skylanders that can be acquired, that's 275 levels at a minimum you'd need to acquire them all.

There are two primary resources in Skylanders: Gold Coins (from Missions), and Energy (from Farms). It costs Coins to grow Energy plants, and Energy plants to go on missions to acquire Gold Coins. Sort of a perpetual motion Ponzi scheme of in-game economics. So let's start off by looking at maximizing Farm output:

CROP		TIME		COST		ENERGY		COST PER NRG		NRG PER MIN
Floats		1		10		4		2.50		4.00
Ambrosia		3		30		11		2.73		3.67
Cloudlings		10		105		37		2.84		3.70
Luminaries		30		320		110		2.91		3.67
Eufirbia		60		650		215		3.02		3.58
Grave Diggers		120		1,300		425		3.06		3.54
Moss Stash		240		2,700		840		3.21		3.50
Domedelion		420		4,800		1,450		3.31		3.45

 Obviously, you get the highest per-minute return on Energy for 1-minute Floats, but that that would take forever to amass enough Energy to take on the big 5,000 Energy Sanctuary missions, so Cloudlings seem to be the best choice. They provide a livable time-frame and balance for maximizing production while minimizing cost. I still like to mix it up with Luminaries and Eufirbia as well sometimes, or perhaps Domedelion right before I go to bed, just for a big instant Energy inventory boost upon harvest.

So that's it for Part I. In Part II, we'll take a look at maximizing mission return on Gold Coins. Can you feel the excitement?!

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. 

The Simpsons: Tapped Out

Over 1 Million Krusty Burgers Served

A Look Under The Hood Of A Freemium Moneymaker

Interesting comparative infographic chart over at Games.com which compares in-game purchases in The Simpsons: Tapped Out to real world fast food consumption statistics. A very interesting peak into actual numbers of structures built, and Donuts spent in the game. Given that Donuts are the in-app-purchase-able resources bought with real money, it gives a clue with regard to how much cold hard cash the game is actually generating for EA. Hint: it looks like a pile of money so huge, you'd need Mr. Plow to move it.

Gizmonauts - Snax Attacks

Update: New Food Types & Amounts

Looks like my earliest list of Gizmonauts Snax farming stats is now a bit outdated. Backflip revised some Snax in-game numbers about 2 weeks ago across several categories, which I wasn't aware of, and there was third type of Snax farm I didn't even realize existed. D'oh/Facepalm/Apologies x 2. Below are the latest and greatest Snax:

Food		Farm		Cost		Time (in Mins)		Amt Made		Amt Made/Hour
Micro Chips		Shack		50		0.5		5		600
Spring Salad		Shack		250		5		20		240
Bolt Burger		Shack		1,000		30		75		150
Blueberry Boltmeal		Joint		5,000		120		300		150
Carbon Cola		Joint		15,000		360		800		133.3
Battery Bites		Joint		75,000		1,440		3,000		125.0
Coolant Cone		Shop		150,000		1		3,000		180,000
Pizza		Shop		250,000		10		5,000		30,000
Astro Oil		Shop		500,000		60		10,000		10,000

I'm not 100% sure why they made Battery Bites and Coolant Cones so similar, at least with regard to "Amt Made". By the time you get to the level that unlocks the Snax Shop, the difference between spending 75,000 and 150,000 coins to make them is not that big of a deal, as you're making a fairly large amount of coins. But hey, I'm not complaining. Bon appetit!

My Singing Monsters

Feed Me!

Overview of total food required to grow a Level 15 monster

I've been a bit curious to find what the maximum level was is My Singing Monsters. After literally 2 weeks of just baking food to feed one T-Rox constantly, it turns out it's level 15. I currently have all 4 Islands and 2 Green Crystal Mines, so I'm not lacking for monsters to generate cash, or bakeries to create food, or crystals to speed along the process, but even so, it took what seemed like an eternity to reach the max monster level. And it's costly process. Below is the required food ( and in-game money) required to reach that goal:

Level		Amt (Food)		SubTotal (Gold)
1		5		20
2		10		40
3		20		80
4		40		160
5		80		320
6		160		640
7		320		1,280
8		640		2,560
9		1,280		5,120
10		2,560		10,240
11		5,120		20,480
12		10,240		40,960
13		20,480		81,920
14		40,960		163,840
15		81,920		327,680
Total		163,835		655,340

"It's wafer thin!"

In other words, it would require a Turkey (1,000,000 gold), a Pie (500,000 gold), and 2 Pizzas (75,000 gold per Pie) to get enough food to reach Level 15, for a grand total of 1,650,000 gold to get just ONE Monster to Level 15. This is why I usually stop around Level 9 for monster upgrading. I'm stuffed.  

Jurassic Park Builder

Get Ready For The Dino Doldrums

Review

Jurassic Park Builder is not necessarily a bad game. It's got really sweet graphics, lots of dinosaur species to care for in your zoo, and tons of missions. On the flip side, it's pretty damn boring. There is nothing to do. Find amber, play a gene sequencer minigame that essentially just makes you spend in-game money, feed dinosaurs, build some support structures (hotels, infirmaries  guard towers, etc) that have no bearing on the game, except to make more money, and import meat and veggies from a port for your dino denizens. 

You missions essentially are variations on the same theme - collect money from dinosaurs, move around dinosaur pens, build roads, delete roads, wash, rinse, repeat. Considering it's supposed to be a simulation of a visitor-driven business enterprise i.e. a zoo, there's no mechanic whatsoever that recognizes player actions that would have more/less visitors coming to your park, or providing amenities to them that would aid attendance. It's a sterile experience, with the lone visitor being the player. The most entertaining part is the "Code Red" minigame, which is essentially a game of chicken. But alas, it only happens perhaps 2 times a day, and then for at most 90 seconds each time. So if you wanted to be entertained for no more than 3 minutes a day, then this game is for you.   

Home Sweet Home

Maximixe Your 'Bot Home Zone Cash in Gizmonauts

"Time for my money bath!"

Without a doubt, making money in Gizmonauts is one of the easiest jobs in the galaxy. Aside from the Large and Small Builder Zones, every other Zone is a cash cow. However, if you want to make a pile of cash quickly, the best way is to get the maximum number of high level 'bots in either Performance (Small & Large) or Nature (Large) Zones (see below). At the moment I have more money than I know what to do with - I am literally waiting for various breeding combos to produce new 'bots, while the money keeps rolling in. I'm about ready to start stuffing money under the mattress of a robo Sleep Number® bed at this point.

Zone		Size		Max # of Bots		Max Coins
Builder		Small		2		250
Mining		Small		1		10,000
Performance		Small		2		7,500
Nature		Small		1		15,000
Builder		Large		4		750
Performance		Large		3		50,000
Nature		Large		3		50,000
Astro		N/A		1		1,000,000

Ever Wonder How Free Games Make Money?

Then Meet These Guys...

Anyone who plays free-to-play games on a regular basis will wonder, on occasion, how companies that charge nothing stay in business. Well, wonder no more. Wired has a great article on the sugar daddies who will spend hundreds and thousands of cold, hard, real money to be the best in their game(s) of choice. Some of them even justify it by saying they are actually saving money. Regardless of the motivation or rationale, it's a fascinating peek into the economies of F2P gaming, and why games like them keep getting made.

Update

Interesting counter-point article over on The Verge about PunchQuest, a game that has received critical acclaim, but apparently isn't making much money at all.

Proper Breeding in My Singing Monsters

No Need To Send Your Monsters To Etiquette School.

We are talking about breeding monsters found on the Cold Island in My Singing Monsters. Each island in MSM features some new monsters only found on specific islands, just to keep you on your toes.  The following chart just contains monsters not found on the original starting island, Plant. So without further ado, here ya go:

Monster		Island		Breeding/Combo		Level		Coins/Min		Max Coins
Tweedle		Cold		Air		9		14		288
Dandidoo		Cold		Tweedle+Potbelly		9		29		2,160
Quibble		Cold		Tweedle+ToeJam		9		22		1,620
Pango		Cold		Tweedle+Mammott		9		29		1,728
Spunge		Cold		Dandidoo+ToeJam		9		43		20,736
Thumpies		Cold		Tweedle+Furcorn		9		50		20,563
Congle		Cold		Pango+ToeJam		9		43		25,920
Deedge		Cold		Multiple		?		?		?

Once again, the correct breeding of the four element monster, in this case, Deedge, eludes me. In general, I stop feeding my monsters after Level 9 as the cost is so prohibitive, and for some monsters, like the Tweedle, the return in investment i.e. Max Coins, is minimal and just not worth it.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween Hi-Jinks from My Singing Monsters

It's great to see developers, particularly those that make free-to-play games, release holiday content that doesn't require the player to jump through a million hoops, or even worse, pay money for. Such is the case in My Singing Monsters. Every day for the past week-ish, Big Blue Bubble has been giving one of the monsters in MSM a Halloween costume makeover, pictured here. It's a nice touch, and once again speaks to the quality of the developer and the game. 

Freebie Alert: Draw Race 2!

Start Your Engines...

Just a quick heads-up that Draw Race 2 is free at the moment. The original Draw Race was a heckuva lot of fun, particularly multiplayer, so it's stands to reason that DR2 will be at least 2 times as good. Intuitive user interface, and really well executed. The iPad version looks phenomenal.

Gizmonauts

You'll Go Nuts For These Buckets of 'Bots Made of Bolts

You may have a heard of a little 'ole iPhone game called Dragonvale aka free-to-play app crack. Well, Backflip Studios, the team behind that game, are back with a new title - Gizmonauts. And much like Dragonvale, Gizmonauts contains every bit of the same addictive fun, except this time around, it's all about robots. You are tasked with raising (upgrading?), feeding (fueling?) and breeding (building? constructing? assembling?) various 'bots, but this time around, you can also upgrade individual robots with specialized tools to increase specific stats, as well as take them into combat.

I've already started to put together some numbers on optimal robot Snax to farm, so here's some initial stats for production amounts vs. time:

Food		Farm		Cost		Time (in Mins)		Amt Made		Amt Made/Hour
Micro Chips		Small		50		0.5		5		120
Spring Salad		Small		250		5		20		240
Bolt Burger		Small		1,000		30		75		150
Carbon Cola		Large		5,000		180		425		141.7
Battery Bites		Large		15,000		540		1,200		133.3
Coolant Cone		Large		75,000		1,440		3,000		125.0

As you can see, Spring Salad is your most efficient choice. So go nuts (no pun intended - this time).

My Kingdom For An Entbrat!

Going insane, for free, in My Singing Monsters.

I really enjoy playing My Singing Monsters. It's fun, off-beat, and challenging. And yet, it's driving me nuts. I cannot, for the life of me, get the correct breeding combo that produces an Entbrat, which is THE El Supremo Singing Monster in MSM. Possible combinations I've used, with no success, are:

Clamble + Toe Jammer

Blowgart + Noggin

T-Rox + Potbelly

Pummel + Mammott

Shrub + Maw

Fwog + Furcorn

Oaktapus + Drumpler

Am I missing any combos? Anyone? Buehler? Anyone?

"No brown M&Ms, I said!"

On the plus side, however, I finally got a Clamble. It's stats are:

Monster		Island		Level		Coins/Min		Max Coins
Clamble		Plant		9		65		13,478

So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Truth in Advertising: Punch Quest

Lest there be any doubt as to the main gameplay focus of Punch Quest, it's a game about punching. Lots and lots of punching. What Temple Run is to, uh, running (in temples, no less), Punch Quest is to knocking out whatever gets in your way. On occasion, you get to punch AND ride dinosaurs at.the.same.time. How can you go wrong with such a concept? Answer: you can't. So grab a copy for the amazingly low-low price of nothing.

Monster Tower

Mini Review

Monster Tower might be described as part Donkey Kong, part Tower Defense. Except you play as Kong, and you don't build any towers. Totally explains the gameplay, right? No? Well, that is part of the slightly wacky charm of Monster Tower. Your job in the game is to defend the last king monster egg on the highest floor of a tower from an onslaught of human attackers intent on destroying said egg. You have an array of monster types to choose from, as well as various traps to lay, as the soldiers try to advance their way to the top. With each level won, money is rewarded to you, which can used to upgrade your various monster troops. The variety of monsters in your command is varied in both look, ability, and cost, so it's not just a simple matter of flinging 100 green goo melee minions at the invaders of your tower. Strategy and tactics are required, not just brute force. Also, it's kinda fun to try to say "green goo melee minion" three times fast. 

Making Money With Monsters

A look under the hood into some of the money-making stats of monsters in My Singing Monsters.

Making cash in My Singing Monsters is no different than most other feed-breed-upgrade monster farming simulation. The more money you have, the cooler the stuff you can buy with it. Below is the breakdown of cash creation stats for the Plant Island Monsters in MSM:

Monster		Island		Level		Coins/Min		Max Coins
Potbelly		Plant		9		27		130
Noggin		Plant		9		43		130
Toe Jammer		Plant		9		17		216
Mammott		Plant		9		33		216
Shrub		Plant		8		47		768
Oaktopus		Plant		9		45		2,160
Furcorn		Plant		9		45		1,620
Fwog		Plant		9		54		1,620
Drumpler		Plant		6		36		864
Maw		Plant		9		43		2,160
Pummel		Plant		9		72		13,478
Clamble		Plant		?		?		?
Bowgart		Plant		9		50		13,608
T-Rox		Plant		9		72		15,552
Entbrat		Plant		?		?		?

The Mammott is the last monster you can create that does not require cross-breeding. After that, you need to start cross-breeding to create hybrids. Once you get to the Pummel, breeding gets even more complicated, as you need to successfully cross breed using a hybrid, which increases the number of potential combinations, and only one combo is the correct one. As you can see from the question marks, I still haven't gotten the right combo for the Clamble or Entbrat. The Entbrat in particular will be a challenge to breed, as it requires the right combo of two hybrids, which makes for breeding permutations that gives me a headache.

My advice would be to get to a Furcorn, Fwog, or Maw as soon as possible to start raking in the cash. Once you've bread a few of those, it's a pretty quick trip to get the 500,000 coins required to build the Green Crystal Mine, and unlock more islands. 

Note: The column titled "Coins/Min" refers to the number of coins per minute a monster will produce.

There's No "I" in "Tribe"

Oh wait...nevermind.

"Last time, the doctor just gave me some lotion to get rid
of these darn crabs!'

Part Gilligan's Island, part Lost, part Cityville, and part Raiders of the Lost Ark, Tiny Tribe is a serviceable little village building simulation, set on a remote tropical island full of mysteries where the player is tasked with rebuilding a semblance of civilization in the jungle after a plane crash. Food and water are the primary resources your tribe of hapless survivors require in order to gather resources and build stuff. Water, in particular, is quite scarce, so often you will be handed a mission, only to discover you need another 45 minutes before water will become available again. This happens quite often early on in the game, so ration your water supply carefully. The other main resources are wood and stone, which can be used-, and later crafted into-, various other production resources. Level, up, and new buildings, tools, and missions will become available. 

Of course, no free-to-play game would be complete without some item you can purchase with real money to speed things along, and Tiny Tribes is no exception with it's crystals. However, the mildly patient player will find that most of the items required to complete a mission eventually turn up in the game after a brief period of time, so only the most impatient need to spend real cash to advance through the game. The missions themselves are a fairly varied lot, and often completing one mission requires multi-step tasks in order to complete, so at times it's easy to get confused as to why exactly are you're mining rocks, when you're supposed to be finding crabs to eat. But all in all, Tiny Tribe is a fun little diversion that mixes up a few genres to good effect.