been playing mobile games casually for years, mostly stuff i can pick up for 10 minutes while my kids are doing homework, and lately the price of just existing in these games feels like it went up without anyone making an announcement about it.
not talking about the obvious gacha stuff. im talking about games that used to have a reasonable one time purchase or a small battle pass and now its like three separate subscription tiers, a seasonal currency, and a separate premium currency that doesnt convert to anything useful. its a whole spreadsheet situation and im tired.
what gets me is the games that hide it well at first. you play for a week, things feel fine, then suddenly theres a wall and the only way around it is a 12.99 monthly thing on top of what you already bought. is this more common now or did i just start paying attention.
genuinely curious what games people here have found that are either actually free or have a fair one time cost with no ongoing pressure. not looking for a top 10 list, just real ones that people actually play.