Nothing frustrates me more than an app update that destroys a fun game. Two of my favorite apps have quickly become the most aggravating things on my phone. The first is Star Trek Rivals. I reviewed this game some months back before they decided to change the whole format and make it literally the most unfair game (unless you are willing to shell out the cash) I have purchased this year.
Here is the original review: Star Trek Rivals
I won’t go into a whole rehash of the game. You can find that in my original post above. I will tell you about some of the not so nice changes that they made. I copied the list of updates from the Elephant mouse website for the Version 1.4:
NEW CONTENT & FEATURES:
– Collect 25 new cards.
– Create new strategies with “Treknology”.
– Cloak your hand from rivals, permanently.
FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS:
– Removing a “friend-code” friend is now reciprocal.
– Only 3 recruits are now needed for the Admiral Pack mission.
– Performance improvements
– Misc. bug fixes
The first “ugly” is the Treknology strategies. These are little tricks that pretty much destroy your opponents. You get five boosts that help you win the game. The first is phasers that weaken your opponents cards. Next are mines that when used against another player reduces the points on their cards. Transporters move either your cards or your opponents cards. Hyposprays heal cards damaged by other players. Finally, shield protect weak cards. You get 5 of each when you get the game. Once they are used up it costs more points and latinum (cash) to get more. If you are cheap like me this option sucks.
The game used to be about strategy. Now with treknology strategy is mostly gone. If you don’t have it you will lose every time. It makes game play pretty unfair. The other issue I have with the game is the rating system. On iTunes the only ratings that show are 5’s. Give me a break peeps. No game is that perfect. Looking at other online reviews you will see that not everyone thinks the game is awesome. I have not played in months. The only redeeming thing about the game was the kool cards. Unfortunately for me it’s not enough to continue.
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Next up is Tiny Death Star. Check out our original post here: Tiny Death Star
This game is so much fun and super addicting. You build the Death Star one level at time and add all sorts of fun and shady characters. Did I mention fun? Well it was fun and then the updates started. With each update came a crazy amount of bugs and game loss for lots of players. A glance at the ratings on iTunes shows the issues that many players are facing. They just released a holiday update and many people lost floors, decorations and hours of game play. I have not lost floors or points.. yet… I have noticed that the game is slow and locks up on a pretty regular basis. I also lost around 120,000 coins/credits during one of the freeze ups. With all the problems I know it’s just a matter of time before I end up like the other players with missing levels and endless frustration.
So the moral of the story is not all apps are perfect. I have yet to find a good Star Trek app that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I am keeping Tiny Death Star for now until it crashes and I end up throwing my phone across the room in frustration.
Any apps that you would recommend??
~VEB
