Word Crack Mix 2

I’ve played this game for years as an enjoyable, stimulating “time waster” when i have a free moment or am waiting on something, and have logged thousands of enjoyable games. I’m uninstalling after writing this review and not ever thinking about this game again. After installing the recent updates, this game is totally different and is now absolutely awful; it now inserts ads for garbage at every opportunity and added a bunch of pay to win mechanics. Its no longer about finding words - now its about seeing which player can suffer through the most ads. Didn’t find enough words? Just watch some ads to make up for it. I understand that free apps need revenue and to some degree this is how the market works, but the changes are so over-the-top and jarring that it can’t be anything other than a shameless cash-grab by the publisher as they run this game into the ground and squeeze every penny from their userbase using all the worst aspects of today’s mobile game scene. All good things come to an end, and this game’s time has come.

If Etermax were smart, they would restore the original app and release this "update" as the completely different game that it is. The people who like the old Word Crack are an entirely different demographic from the people who might like the new one. Why choose to lose half (or more) of your existing players instead of keeping all of them and also gaining downloads of a separate new app? The March 1, 2020 update completely bricked the app. I get the opening "etermax" screen and then the whole thing abruptly crashes and closes. I'm far from the only unhappy player. Before the update Word Crack had 1,620 reviews and nearly a 5 star average. As of 3/7, there have been 250 new reviews since the update and they're all extremely negative. Some can't open the app at all, but most can, and they all hate it. My husband and I had enjoyed challenging each other in head-to-head rounds for years. Word Crack was one of our go-tos for quality time. The game was straightforward, challenging and lots of fun. From the app's own description of the update and the new screenshots, plus the post-update reviews, the replacement game (I wouldn't call such extensive changes an update) sounds absolutely horrible. If I could even play it. I've deleted and reinstalled many times, including after the 3/5 update, and still nothing. I have almost zero hope that it will return to a function app as enjoyable as the original. I may keep checking periodically, but I won't hold my breath.

Word Crack is enjoyable and addictive, especially if you're inherently competitive. I find it challenging trying to find the lengthier words hidden away within the puzzle. My only qualm is the PowerUps feature of the game. I've noticed that some people use them during gameplay and others don't. While I believe they add an interesting element to the game, it would be fantastic for players to choose before starting each game whether they would like to play a PowerUp-boosted game against an opponent who also uses PowerUps, or be more purist and go the non-PowerUp route. I choose not to use PowerUps, and I've often had to resign games after one or two rounds after I've noticed that the points discrepancy is indicative of the other player using PowerUps. That's my only suggestion to make the game more satisfying. Other than that, this game is definitely worth downloading. Great to play for passing time.