Doodle God: Alchemy & Sandbox

The downfall of this game needs to be studied. Every inch of it is trying to shove your face into ads, *even when you pay to remove them.* Impossible to enjoy unless you’re willing to fork over 20 bucks for a dated game with a flash version that fulfills that fix perfectly with infinitely less bloat. (Further Elaboration) It’s a really slimy tactic: it says “forced ads” are removed, but ads still constantly come in your way when trying to fill out the planet they advertise so heavily. It isn’t FORCED, you can just ignore the elements it says are premium, but as you progress it feels like more and more elements become premium until the entire planet mode is basically locked off for you. Not to mention the fact that it forces your view into the planet mode any time you make a new element that some underpaid asset artist Happened to make a render for, meaning “ignoring it” basically just means playing the game at a snail’s pace, waiting for the cutscene to finish, and going back to the main screen only to be booted into the planet view a few seconds later. It’s a shame, because it seems like they also added a lot of content from the spinoffs and some nice quality of life improvements, but with how cutthroat its monetization strategy is, it’s genuinely impossible to derive any sort of real enjoyment out of any of it. Do not waste your time, even for any sort of ironic enjoyment or nostalgia trip. I wanted to play longer for the exact same reasons, but it just isn’t worth it. Enjoy my five bucks, never again.

I remember playing this game on my 3rd gen iPod touch, I’m talking 5 maybe closer to 10 years ago. It was great, drag elements together, make new ones, repeat - did it all day long. Downloaded it again because I was sick of games restricting me from playing, dousing me with ads and trying to get me to pay ludicrous amounts of money just to play a little more. Doesn’t it make sense that in order for people to play your game more you have to actually let them play it? Why can’t I combine more than a few elements before I’m “out of essence” and I have to spend 10 minutes watching ads just to play the game for another 5? Of course I could just fork over A HUNDRED DOLLARS for unlimited essence so I can actually play the game for more than a few minutes without being bogged down with the same ads over and over. When did all the developers decide “hey screw the customer experience let’s just see who’s stupid enough to pay for this”. What ever happened to being able to play the d*mn game you downloaded. I’m still gonna play it out of nostalgia but I’m not happy.

I don't play very many games; I am 15, in high school and just frankly just busy. This game is not "inappropriate", it does have the word "sex". Oh my, what a biggy. I do understand there are young children who play this game, but I got this game when I was quite young. Not knowing what that meant. This game isn't bad, far from it. I played this game a few years back, and just started playing again. Realizing, yes it has changed drastically; and no they changes aren't *ALL* bad. There are more ads, which stinks, it normally pops up after about 10 attempts. I've learned to live with it, some say there is way too many ads, but frankly I don't notice them as much as some games I've played in the past. For being a free game that has a none-free version, this is a very good free version. It allows you to do pretty much everything the paid version offers. With the new update it comes with the "energy" system. where you can create about 10ish elements before your energy is out, giving you the options of waiting for more, watching videos(1per), or paying. I find this ridiculous, as for before the update it wasn't a thing. Another thing about the update is the world, as for the look and effects of the world it is well done; I just don't like that after every creation you have to go into the world to see it. Some times it is cool, other times I don't want to waste 10s waiting for it to finish. Also, the hints. I can't quite remember if that is new, but when I first noticed it I clicked to see what it was, it told me that (blank) + (blank) = turtle. That was it; I wasted energy on that. At least it could of told me some of the elements. 😂 Despite what the other reviews say about the game, I quite enjoy it. It keeps me occupied on the go, or waiting for something. Or just to have a break, I do recommend this game to older children or adults; it really gets you thinking. I gave it 4 stars, because of the few flaws, but it's impressive features do make up for the few update problems. I haven't noticed any glitching or crashing, so as far as my say, this game is a definite get. 💛 /jaz