Age of 2048™ 4+

You know what would make this even better? Loot boxes! Gems! Longer ads! Mandatory Facebook logins! “Share with your friends!” I know you’ve designed this to be another obnoxious freemium game born out of avarice rather than passion, but you can do even better.

Beating level 3 is equivalent to getting an 8192 in the original 2048. I can’t imagine what the higher levels expect from you. Basically, it’s designed to be nearly impossible without buying power-ups.

Ads, ads, ads. An ad before every game would be okay, but it also plays an ad every time you leave and reopen the app. I’m normally okay with ad-supported software, but it’s a little overboard here, and when combined with necessary micro-transactions, it’s obnoxious. I wish developers would just pick between IAP and ads.

The isometric view is aesthetically pleasing, but I find myself accidentally swiping the wrong way far more often than in the traditional orthogonal view. It wouldn’t bother me if it had free undos, but no, those need to be purchased in the shop.

The app itself seems professional. It’s a nice cosmetic makeover of 2048, the graphics are fine, and I haven’t run into any bugs, but it reeks of all that is wrong in the current state of monetization of gaming. Developers deserve to make money off of their work, but the constant “give me money” reminders in these kinds of apps is a major turn-off.

I am running the latest version of the game on an iPhone 7 Plus (iOS 11.0.1) and I am getting the same “no ads available” error that’s been reported elsewhere here. This game is fun aside from that, but it needs to get fixed! I also think that it’s very easy to accidentally swipe the wrong way, so the fact that there are so few ”undos” available (unless you pay) is lousy and comes off as a bit greedy.

UPDATE: I emailed support about the ads issue and received no reply, nor do I see a response to my review, nor has it been fixed. In addition, the app seems to reset periodically and I lose my game. This wouldn't be so painful if the "start with a Level x building" thing worked but it doesn't. For someone who paid for the ad-free game this is ridiculous.

The app is nice. Works well. Looks nice. IMPOSSIBLY DIFFICULT. Beating for level three without power ups is equivalent to getting an 8192 in 2048. How many of you can do that? The game is also riddled with ADS. Not only will you see an ad every time you open and close the game, but you will see banner ads on the bottom of the screen, floating balloons you can tap on for more ads, and ads every. single. time you start a new game. every. single. time. What if you want to play with the power ups? They are INSANELY expensive. 15 undos, which might last about an hour costs four dollars. Ridiculous. Great game, but probably the worst freemium trap I've ever seen.