TIGSource Forums

Hi guys

I'm a big fan of games like Puzzle & Dragon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puzzle_%26_Dragons), Monster Strike (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Strike) and Crash Frenzy (youtube.com/watch?v=Txjgzw0HDjw - damn autoembed). They are gigantic games over in Japan, but barely get any downloads in North America (about 1 million compared to 20 million for P&D). Even so, the boards on reddit seem quite popular so it seems someone's playing them.

So I'm curious - do any of you guys play these games? If you have not played these games before, does this style of game interest you? Or more to the point, is there something about this genre you don't like? For those that do play them, what games do you play and what are your thoughts on this genre in North America?


The reason I ask is I'm working on my own version of a P&D style game, but I'm still measuring if this genre of game registers on anyone's radar over here.

I play Puzzle & Dragons. I love tile matching games and match 3s so I wanted to learn how they do a lot of things to keep players interested for my own project. I kind of get tired of P&D after a few days though, also I don't like their fusion system, I'd rather my dragons gain exp from battling like pokemon or a normal rpg but I guess they want to sell fusion components and dragon storage space so they do it that way. Be sure to post a version of  your game when its ready I'll play it!

Oh yeah, this might belong in the Games section idk.

I played P&D for a while and had fun. But these games all have the same problem imo: they are incredibly accessible and immediately "fun". However the gameplay loop starts wearing thin incredibly quickly, partially because their accessibility and focus on easy rewards makes it easy to binge play them (even despite timers and energy systems).Past that point, there are 2 possibilities: Either you really enjoy collecting virtual things in which case you'll push through, OR you don't and just give up.

With every single one of those games, I went straight from playing them on every bus and every waiting room i was in to not playing them at all, practically overnight.

I think I feel the same way about the fusion system. I find the UI quickly becomes packed with so many monsters it's hard to keep track of them all, which makes the 'merging' mechanic a bit repetitive after every mission. It can also get a bit frustrating when you get the 'you have max number of monsters' all the time.

I like how TsumTsums handles it where at the end of a level, if you roll an unlock for a character you already own (even if you are not using that character at that time), you get bonus XP for them instead. You lose that extra control over who fuses with who, but it keeps the game running quickly.

As for getting tired of the combat mechanics, this is my big concern at the moment. I'm a bit worried that it might start to get repetitive after a while but I've not come up with anything too smart to solve that yet. Probably kind of silly of me to only be thinking of this now after already implementing these systems  :durr:


There's a link in my signature if you're interested, it goes to the developer journal that has download links at the top  :beer:

If you're worried about repetition you should check out other games done successfully. 1000000 and You have to build a boat at a big popularity. I haven't played the latter but the former does a great job of adding challenges & powerups.

I liked Dungeon Raid https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fireflame.dungeonraid (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fireflame.dungeonraid) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dungeon-raid/id403090531?mt=8 (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dungeon-raid/id403090531?mt=8) a lot - match 3 with "RPG" combat. Sometimes you sacrifice coins to get health, othertimes you get hurt to get coins to buy that powerup you need. Need mechanics.

Can't help you with the collector-genre game though. Most of the ones I've seen on the iOS app store look like grind over gameplay.

You must build a boat is even better than its predecessor. You should play it.

I play monster strike occasionally. It's pretty fun.

Mario puzzles and dragons I've played for 3ds. Super fun at first but dies out after about 5 hours.

I avoid every match three type of game except for Bejeweled 3.

i was very interested in the 3DS puzzle and dragons game after playing the iphone game for a while. what's not to like, it's a totally premium game! well, it turns out that the f2p gachapon stuff is the most compelling part of that game. i couldn't get into the 3DS game at all. i did play terra battle for a while and thought it was really cool. i got swamped with other games and ended up uninstalling it eventually. the main gameplay in that is super cool, though.

Completion time in hours is?

no idea, but it did take me a month or two when it came out

but of course i bought the game on mobile so these were quick sessions on bus and train rides mostly

Ok, thanks.