Why Browser Games Can Be Frustrating
By, M. Hauschel
Starting a game gives a player an initial experience to how the game plays. Instead of, you know, putting your best foot forward, developers seem to do the opposite. “Check out all these awesome choices!” is what they claim, but these choices usually are not available. Why even market that you have factions, clans, tribes to choose from, when you really don’t? That’s usually the first sign that this game is going to be just a much fun as listening to a 10-year-old girl describe an episode of Pretty Little Liars.
Tutorials can be helpful, but there is a thin line between helpful and annoying as hell. Developers sometimes create tutorials that are optional for players, which is awesome. Though the rule of the land seems to be, create the most annoying tutorial that constantly pops-up to remind of things you already know about. It’s always some sort of advisor, like an old man or military personnel that pesters you to build huts or collect stones. Even when you minimize them, they always have a glowing icon sitting somewhere on screen, ruining your gaming experience. It’s like you’re trying to go to sleep and somebody keeps hitting you in the face with a flashlight. That’s how subtle they are.
The appearance of browser game layouts varies as much as the flavors of vanilla. They usually have the dashboard on the bottom and icons of resources on the top. Of course the advisor will pop-up periodically to remind you of something obvious. Sometimes if you’re lucky, the browser game lacks the ability to hover over icons for descript explanations. Is that a cloud? Silver? Belly button lint? Who knows? In case you didn’t know there was an in-game cash option, there will be a constant reminder to inform you like a demented parrot.
As you progress through the game, you might find it necessary to upgrade buildings, storage capacity, military size, etc. If you somehow managed to collect enough resources through the hours of waiting, you might find you don’t have nearly enough resources for what you want to upgrade. Your demented parrot will remind you can buy purple stars for what you need to upgrade. But that of course costs real-life money for a game you just started and already dislike.
If you somehow collected enough resources to qualify for an upgrade option, have fun waiting for it finish. Of course purple-star-parrot-face will remind you that you could have used the stars for an instant upgrade. Instead, you chose to play the game without paying any real-life money like a fool, so you’re punished with time. Lots of time. In fact you’ll have so much time, that if you go to Reddit, you’ll run out of blue links before the upgrade is even finished. Impossible you might say, right? Sadly, it’s possible.
Shortly after the point of finding out how much time the game requires, if the answer is a lot, I usually quit and move onto something else. There are plenty of F2P browser games, as developers jump onto the bandwagon. But, just because there are plenty, it doesn’t necessarily mean they vary.