Promiscuous Gamer

Diary of a Promiscuous Gamer: Getting stuck into Dungeon Keeper

This guy will play anything as long as it's free

Diary of a Promiscuous Gamer: Getting stuck into Dungeon Keeper

As game executive Bing Gordon famously put it (about) in 2010, "This is the most promiscuous app audience in the history of mankind".

This is the weekly diary of a promiscuous gamer.

1. Clash of Clans (Supercell)
How long will it take me to collect the 950 gems I need to get the 3 million gold I need to update my Town Hall? At this rate, forever….

2. Epic Empire (Pocket Gems)
Because there's no real base building in Epic Empire - it's angled towards RPG - you don't really have variation in terms of gameplay. Hopefully, finally unlocking the Stonemason will change this. Otherwise, it's onto the uninstall list.

3. Dark District (Kabam)
Upgrading my Command Center to level 10. Surprisingly, this only takes 2 hours.

4. Angry Birds Go! (Rovio)
Still don't find this a very inspirational game but it is enjoyable. Unlocked the Rocky Road track. It's not as good as the first Speedway track. Hopefully the promised multiplayer update will arrive soon.

5. Adventure Town (Supersolid)
There's always something to do in Adventure Town. And they're always presented with such fun too. Still my most enjoyable game.

6. Dr. Newton (Brainbow)
Didn't play this week

7. Eternity Warriors III (Glu Mobile)
Didn't play Eternity Warrior 3 much this week, but have started to replay earlier levels to master them to build up currency and inventory levels.

8. Galaxy on Fire: Alliances (Fishlabs)
Still don't really understand the main loop of this game, which is taking troops and ships to attack new planets.

9. RoboCop (Glu Mobile)
Surprisingly, I am enjoying this twin-stick shooter, especially in terms of daily mission structure, which like CSR Racing gives you three daily missions to collect currency.

I'm also interested to experiment more with one of the game's monetisation techniques, which gets you to self-select amounts of in-game currency to unlock upgrade nodes. The higher the levels of currency you use, the higher than chance the node will unlock, but if you want to guarantee an unlock you have to use hard currency.

10. Heroes of Honor (Nonstop Games)
I'm starting to get the hang of this game, especially in terms of how you use your troops to defend your base and the outposts you create as a way of generating more gold and wood. Sure, it's not the most welcoming of games in terms of graphics and whizzbang, but I expect Honor of Heroes to impress in terms of mid-range gameplay.

11. Sky Adventures (Game Insight)
As is often the case with Game Insight's release, Sky Adventures is very resource-focused, both in terms of soft currencies and the requirements for hard currency. Still, the current sale that gives you three times as many Banknotes for your dollars as you got last week suggests the game's original setting was too tight.

As for gameplay. I've unlocked a boat port and am saving for a level 2 seaplane.

12. Dungeon Keeper (EA)
And so to the current bete noire of the free-to-play world… I can see why EA/Mythic's Dungeon Keeper has had problems: its early gameplay is very slow and badly structured, it's another F2P remake of a much loved legacy game (just like Plants vs Zombies), while for some weird reason, EA continues to be a game company that gamers love to hate.

Nevertheless, I can also see why EA/Mythic took the decision to remake the game. It's a strategy game that works within the Clash of Clans' genre without being a clone. It also has a neat twist in that you're digging out a dungeon and an army rather than building up a city and an army, plus the game has a great sense of humour. I really like the ability to speed up your imps by slapping them around.

13. Glyph Quest (Alexander Trowers)
Didn't play this week.


Installed #1 Modern Command (Chillingo)
Putting a new spin on the tower defence genre, Level Eight-developed Chillingo-published Modern Command offers fairly arcade gameplay as you defend your central base from incoming enemies. Monetisation comes from unlocking and upgrading your weaponry.

Installed #2 Defenders & Dragons (Glu Mobile)
There haven't been a lot of castle defence games recently, but as with all Glu games, I'm more interested in its monetisation techniques.


Uninstalled #1 Fightback (Chillingo)
In that context of a current F2P debate, I think Fightback is a F2P game that shouldn't be a F2P game, at least in terms of the how the monetisation is set up.

The skill required in beat-'em ups and the option to buy inter-level boosts just doesn't seem like a good combination. The core fighting animation is great, however.

Weekly recap
Installed: 2
Uninstalled: 1

In Play: 14
To Be Played: 1

Spending: $0
To-date 2014 'Life Time' Value: $3.99

Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.