Gold and Goblins

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Today the steam drills dig up: Gold and Goblins Idle Merge

Today I bring you a game that reminds me a lot of Lego Rock Raiders for the PC. You shoot out goblins from a cannon and then merge them to force them to mine up rocks. 

The game uses simple idle mechanics of buildings generating coins that you use to buy more goblins or upgrade mines once you dig them up. Each rock or gate has a number on it. A goblin can mine any stone regardless of the number displayed. If a goblin has a higher number than a rock or object, it mines it extremely fast. If the goblin has a lower number it can still mine but it gets a time multiplier added. It's hard to tell how time is calculated in this game because it seems a bit random. As you progress on you unlock the ability to go to event levels. The other buttons in this screenshot are locked but I will go over these soon. In the normal mode, you get purple vials that are used to upgrade your cards. These upgrades are permanent. There is one premium currency, the Green diamond. This game does not give out these gems too freely and it takes a lot to make them useful.

Now lets move on to the even level. It is the same screen but with the addition of keys hidden in rocks. These keys are the first goal to aim for as they unlock bonuses for your main mine. Each event mine has a theme to it that effects the drops you get at the end. Most of these events last for 24 hours but some events last for 3 days. With this screenshot I can go over the other buttons here. The chest is a shop that I will go over soon but this is where you can claim free random cards every few hours. The next button is all the cards you own. Event cards are seperate than the main mine. It says these cards are permenent in this game mode but I can not verify that until I have a repeat event. To the right of the goblin button is a wheel. These also refill a charge every hour and you can watch a video to get free goblins, vials or time boosts. The last button is the event button. You use this to switch between mines.

Here is the settings. A lot of links to social media a and linking to cloud saving.

Here is a portion of the shop. There are may things in here to help you advance quicker but a lot of this is expensive. I feel the prices for the stuff in this game is over-priced compared to most other mobile games.

Now we come to the main mechanic in this game. The semi-gotcha style card system controls a lot about what you can do. Each mine you find uses a different goblin and ontop of that you have to have them at a high enough level to run the mine. Some cards affect mining speed or the amount of coins you can collect.

When you click on a card you can see how many you have and the number of viles it costs to upgrade a card. These numbers start to get expoential fast. 

Here's a shot of some of the things you can view on the wheel. You get at least 1 free spin a day.

When you hit the event button you get a preview of the them and what kind of rewards you can collect for collecting keys.

This game has a small amount of achievements that do not give you many rewards for completing them. According to this, there are at least 6 events that seem to rotate around.

Lastly, here is a preview of what you can collect from a chest. There are different levels of chests that offer rarer cards in them.

Overall:

 5 of 5 cogs.

Overall this is a fun game. You have a lot of waiting to do sometimes but that is also the issue. The goblins do not continue to mine unless they are next to a new valid target. Placing your goblins is important. The events are very short and seem designed to eat money if you wish to make it to the top 100.

Story:

 0 of 5 cogs.

There is a little story in the begining then nothing else.

Amount of ads:

 

  optional only.

You only have optional ads to worry about.

Accurate Advertising?:

50%

At first, the ads for these games were straigh forward. Those ones got my attention on the game. Later on they use click-bait ads like a game I have previously blogged about. I feel this is a very cheap way to get people to play.

Graphics:

 5 of 5 cogs.

The graphics are high quality and have an odd charm to them. For a mobile game these graphics look great on my phone.

Gameplay:

 4 of 5 cogs.

The game doesn't have too much mechanically going on to keep you playing and there is limited things you can do. I feel the only thing that keeps someone going are the many events and the sense of wanting to discover more in this game.

Free play:

💯%

For the most part, this game is very easy to play through without paying anything. The gems are very rare to earn and but you don't need them to progress.

Fun factor:

🔨 Hammer time!

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Castle Fusion Idle Clicker

You can try out the game here: Castle Fusion Idle Clicker

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This game put out by Shark Jump is an idle/merge game. There are 3 main areas to place towers or vehicles. This is not the typical tower defense game. There is no danger to the player so it is a chill game.

The first section is the keep. Crates deliver turrets based on whatever upgrades you have. Along the top is the area name, scraps, and diamonds. The bottom row of towers contain plots that must be purchased. Temporarily by scraps or permanently by diamonds.

Scraps are the basic currency you get based on the total number of towers and their combined levels. You use scrap on some upgrades and to buy more turrets. More on these later.

Diamonds are the premium currency. There are obtainable through gameplay. It is very possible to get all the upgrades without spending money.

Lastly, birds show up like the Phoenix. You click on them for rewards.

The second area is the trails. Goblins on elephants attack. Again this doesn't amount to anything. The turrets get infused with magic, becoming stronger and provides more scraps.

In the last area, there are no turrets, but you get tanks, Mechs, and airships. Each is powered by the same materials and magic as the second area. Now we chase after the orcs.

As you merge towers, you gain levels. They can be used to upgrade various stats.

Here is very easy to obtain achievements in the game. Each one gives you some diamonds to upgrade with.

These are just a sample of the lower tier towers. Each purchase with scraps increases the cost.

Next, we have upgrades. These unlock as you progress through the story or as you buy certain upgrades.

Now once you upgrade the last vehicle, the last area opens up. Here once the keep is upgraded, you unlock a random dragon.

Each dragon gives different boosts based on the color. I still have to discover all the dragons.

Now we are brought to the "end game". This tavern is where souls gather. You upgrade everything in this tab to unlock the legendary tavern. I have not reached that far. The legendary tavern is supposed to mark the "end" of the game in some way.

Overall:

3 of 5 cogs.

The game is simple and easy to pick up. Anyone can easily play this game without paying anything for it. Plus it works offline.

Story:

3 of 5 cogs.

There Is a story. It starts fairly standard. A war against goblins, but then the story takes a turn. So far you reveal the next chapter by prestiging(resetting the world). You have to restart about 10 times to get the whole story.

Amount of ads:

Starting there are no ads. You can choose to watch videos for some bonuses. Sometimes the Phoenix gives you a button for video to get bonuses. You can also watch a video to spin a wheel.

Additionally, you can turn on banner ads to get bonus scrap production. This game has a very refreshing and unobtrusive way of handling ads.

Advertised as seen:

💯%

The game is straight forward with its advertising. You get exactly what is shown. No tricks.

Graphics:

 4 of 5 cogs.

The graphics are all 3d renders. I had no lag issues and the graphics remain smooth. The graphics are a bit cartoony, but this game is appropriate for all ages.

Audio:

3 of 5 cogs.

The sound effects are very repetitive and can be annoying after a while. The music feels very generic fantasy as well and does not stand out. They get a middle road review.

Gameplay:

4 of 5 cogs.

The gameplay is fairly fun but it does get repetitive very fast. It is easy to pick up and easy to forget about. The game does give currency while away. You can watch an ad to receive double currency.

Free play:

 💯 %

What else can I say? This game is free to play and you can get everything without paying for anything. I call this game a win all around.

Fun factor:

🙂 Average.

The game is fun but does start to get boring. I feel this is average for most merging games. Shark Jump has a couple of other merge games that appear to use this same engine. I may review them in the future as well.

Note: having trouble with picture alignment. I Will update you when I get to a PC.

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