Nintendo’s first free-to-play game is being released in February for the 3DS. Pokemon Shuffle incorporates main-game battle concepts with the fun of Pokemon Trozeii. Matching up three Pokemon in a row will eliminate them from the playing board, and deal damage to a wild Pokemon. Each ‘battle’ in Pokemon shuffle has a minimum number of moves to finish a stage and move on. Pokemon are also collectible throughout the game, and collecting many Pokemon will help the players efficiently finish the stage like suggested. With this being a somewhat updated version of Pokemon Trozeii, Pokemon will be able to mega-evolve and deal more damage. On the other, not so exciting side, Nintendo has taken the popular SmartPhone app approach to make this game; Pokemon Shuffle will give players a limited number of lives to complete a stage, and when these lives have been depleted, players can use in-game items to replenish them, or purchase more lives from the Nintendo eShop.
With a free-to-play game like Pokemon Shuffle, or Candy Crush, there’s always going to be some cost involved, whether it goes to the players or the company providing the game. Free-to-play games always come with a catch, such as having to purchase lives, or being completely spammed with ads from sponsors. Concerns for this title are already tied in with having to purchase lives to continue playing, and the possibility of players being spammed with ads during game play. Hopefully Nintendo has not gone as far as spamming their loyal players with ads, but Nintendo also hasn’t provided any other games that are free-to-play. This game could just be a test to see if players will continue to be interested in free-to-play games in the future, even if they seem similar to SmartPhone app games.
