5 ‘Free’ iPhone Games That Will Quietly Drain Your Wallet
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Free-to-play games are a dime a dozen these days, especially in the App Store. It's not hard to find a game that seems free at first, only to later find that you’ll have to spend some money if you really want to play it properly.
Of course, F2P games aren’t automatically bad. There are plenty of excellent games that let you enjoy most of their content without spending a dime, with purchases mostly confined to cosmetic items or other extras that don’t have much effect on how well you perform.
However, it feels like that’s the exception and not the norm. Things become more frustrating when money starts influencing progression or competitive power. A game may technically let you unlock everything for free, but that distinction doesn’t mean much if doing so takes months while someone willing to spend hundreds of dollars can reach the same point almost immediately.
This means there are some free-to-play games that you should stay away from — unless you actually are willing to start emptying your wallet, that is. While many of them are genuinely entertaining, the problem isn’t necessarily the gameplay itself; many of the games on this list have attracted criticism for being too aggressive when it comes to monetization. Read on for 5 games where you should really know what you’re getting into before investing hundreds of hours in them.
Diablo Immortal
Diablo Immortal brings Blizzard’s popular action RPG franchise to the iPhone. You probably know this game for memes like: “Don’t you guys have phones?” and “Is this an out-of-season April Fools’ joke?” Yes, hardcore Diablo fans didn’t like this game when it was first announced.
From a gameplay perspective, Diablo Immortal can be surprisingly good. Combat feels responsive, and there’s plenty to do without paying during the earlier portions of the game. You can complete the story and spend a substantial amount of time improving your character for free.
The pay-to-win elephant in the room becomes much harder to ignore once you become interested in trying to reach the top. Legendary Gems can provide significant character bonuses, while the gacha-type systems involving Legendary Crests affect your chances of obtaining stronger gems.
You can certainly play Diablo Immortal casually without becoming a heavy spender. But playing serious, competitive PvP is way different because the best and almost only way to dominate is to spend money.
RAID: Shadow Legends
Even if you aren’t a gamer, you’ve probably heard of this game because its marketing team has paid millions to a seemingly endless number of content creators to promote this game on nearly every platform.
If you look past the jokes and aggressive marketing, RAID: Shadow Legends is a fun game. This is a turn-based fantasy RPG built around collecting Champions. Each Champion has different abilities, and much of the strategy comes from creating teams that work well together.
There’s also a huge amount of content. You can progress through a campaign and fight dungeon bosses. You can also start a clan and have some casual battles with other players when you want to test your champions or just have some fun with friends.
The problem is that the more you progress, the more resources you’ll need. New Champions must be obtained and upgraded before they become useful. Your gear also needs upgrades, which makes it hard to make progress as a free-to-play player.
RAID also displays a bunch of offers all the time. If you’re someone who wants the best champions to improve your odds in the game, it’ll be very hard to avoid “investing some money."
That’s not to say that you can’t play for free. As a free-to-play player, you can still improve your Champions and become better at the game; it’ll just take you way longer than everybody else.
Clash of Kings
Clash of Kings is a strategy game that’s been around for quite some time. In it, you develop a kingdom and build an army. You also gather resources in order to upgrade your kingdom and build a stronger castle.
At first, everything works like a charm. Progressing through the game is quick and easy, and you can finish your buildings really quickly. However, the more you progress, the tougher things get.
Higher-level construction and research take much longer. Sure, you can speed up construction to reduce wait times, and extra resources can help you start expensive upgrades sooner.
And just like the other games on the list, this is a multiplayer game, which makes it frustrating to play for free when other gamers already have better weapons and armies, and they can wipe out all your progress whenever they want.
If you want to catch up, it won’t be cheap. You’ll need to shell out some money if you want to stand a chance against other players.
At first, this is a great game to play, but if you want to save some money and time, there are much better strategy games on the App Store.
Rise of Kingdoms
This is another game that you’ve probably seen in an ad or two. Rise of Kingdoms lets you select a historical civilization before building a city and expanding across a large shared world.
What’s cool about this game is that you can choose your own commander, each with a different skill that will help you in your battles. The catch? All commanders are based on well-known historical figures. You can choose to play as Alexander the Great, Attila, Cleopatra, and many more iconic figures.
Once you choose your commander, it’s time to focus on your empire. You can build your territory however you like, train your troops, and then go to battle. And if you feel like going alone is too much, you can build an alliance with other players to defeat anyone who stands in your way.
And while all of that sounds really fun, as you can expect, the pay-to-win system is very clear in this game. If you really want to win many battles and help your friends along the way, it will be way easier to do if you spend some money.
Playing for free is still possible, especially if you’re part of a strong alliance. But even then, that might not be enough if you play with really strong opponents willing to spend some money on the game.
What’s more, the stronger alliances might not even take you in, as you might not have enough power to help them during their battles. And if you are in an alliance where they spend money, you’ll be the weakest link and will hinder your team just because your troops aren’t powerful enough.
Clash Royale
Clash Royale is a very popular game that has become a bit controversial because it feels like the company behind it isn’t listening to its players. This game combines collectible cards, real-time strategy, and tower defense into short matches that usually last only a few minutes.
Your goal is to destroy the opponent's troops, and you’ll need to build the right eight-card deck to do so. From the first time you play it, this game is really fun and addictive, but the higher you climb the ladder, the tougher it becomes to be a free-to-play player.
This is mostly because you need to level up your towers and your troops. Going up a few levels is easy, but if you want to seriously play competitively, you’ll need to max out your entire deck, which can be pretty slow or expensive, depending on which route you choose.
Additionally, every month the game releases new hero cards or champions, which are hard to come by as a free-to-play player. Not only that, but even if you do pay money to upgrade a card, it’s possible that the game will nerf the card in a couple of months, which could make it unplayable in the arena.
For casual players, Clash Royale can still be a lot of fun thanks to its snappy and responsive gameplay, frequent events, and strategic depth. However, if your goal is to climb the competitive ladder as quickly as possible, be prepared to spend some money or be really, really patient.
Five Popular Games With One Really Big Catch
Many of the games on this list are successful for a reason. Some have great combat, while others are downright addictive. However, just because they’re fun to play doesn’t mean you should, especially if you tend to overspend money on your favorite hobbies.
Of course, you can still play these games. They’re free to download, and they’ll give you a dose of fun as soon as you open them. Just know what you’re getting yourself into.
And if you already play and enjoy these games, there’s no need to delete them simply because someone calls them pay-to-win. Decide what you’re willing to spend before you become too invested.
As long as you spend money responsibly, maybe by setting a budget for your hobby, you can still enjoy these games without getting too involved.
Or, you can find other games on the App Store. There is something for everyone. From premium games to freemium titles that still reward grinding over using your credit card. Whatever you choose, just have fun and adjust to your own budget.