We took out a mortgage on our house and bought a few in-app purchases for our favorite freemium iOS games to find out if money really makes these types of games worth playing.
beeline-i.com
Rating: 4+
Harvest your crops when they’re ready, or pay to fix ’em up.
$0 Spent: Tedium
Smurfs’ Village lets you build up a small city, harvest crops, and tackle quick quests as the adorable cartoon icons, but most tasks take hours or even a full day to finish—though you can speed up the process by purchasing Smurfberries.
$5 Spent: Progress
My breaking point came when an essential bridge needed to be built, albeit with a 21-hour wait. I bought the $5 pack of Smurfberries and spent 40 percent of them on the bridge. It was momentarily satisfying, but it was a grim sign of things to come.
$15 Spent: Regret
Sadly, the game never stops nickel-and-diming you, and unless you’re content with playing just a few minutes a day, it’s nearly unplayable without cash. I bought a $10 pack to keep moving, but quickly lost interest in this bland grind.
It’s just like the cartoon! Well, with more busywork.
Best Option: $0
Either play in brief spurts or don’t play at all. Smurfs’ Village offers little lasting reward for your money.
zynga.com
Rating: 12+
Thousands of competitors are ready to play at all hours.
$0 Spent: Alluring
Linking up my Facebook account notched me $20,000 in chips from the get-go, which can easily last you dozens of hands of poker. Zynga’s take on Texas Hold ’Em is slickly produced and boasts hundreds of thousands of active fans.
$3 Spent: Going Big
Chip bundles are available in small amounts, and I purchased a $3 package to buy my way into some of the bigger (fake) money games. But you can also stick to the lower-level games and play for hours and hours. Pick your poison!
$10 Spent: Going Home
I bumped up to $10 worth of chips and ducked into some of the big-money games, which offer huge rewards but can sap your stash in the blink of an eye. Zynga Poker is so giving with free chips that only the heavy hitters need to spend this much.
Best Option: $3–$10
Zynga Poker is an excellent free-to-play option that demands cash only for the optional high-stakes tables.
happylatte.com
Rating: 12+
Move the iPhone to aim and then tap the screen to blast your foe.
$0 Spent: Fun’s Ablaze
High Noon pits your Wild West gunfighter in quick duels against worldwide foes, and you’ll even hold your iPhone upside down in a “holstered” position before firing off rounds. It’s a simple affair, but the battles are exciting and there’s plenty of competition.
$5 Spent: Helpful
You can play pretty regularly for free, though you might need to top up your energy from time to time by spending money on drinks. Beyond that, though, you can purchase Wampum beads and coins to use on helpful items and visual player changes.
$15 Spent: Unnecessary
Free coins are easier to earn than Wampum, so if you’re seeking a new gun or high-level apparel, spend your money on the latter. But unless you’re playing day and night, this amount of cash is reserved for totally optional clothing and the like.
Best Option: $5
Spend a few bucks on Wampum and you’ll be dueling for weeks to come in this stellar shoot-em-up.
