Death Worm™ Deluxe 12+

Classic, haunted by microtransactions

I played this game back in school, and it‘s still a fun and solid gameplay loop. Unfortunately, at some point microtransactions apparently became mandated by mobile game law and this game isn‘t better for it (at least in terms of gameplay - I can’t speak for the increased development capacities due to the additional income). In order to make microtransactions attractive, main mission progression is artificially gated by nerfing your current worm severely until you reach a certain level and then the next worm. While leveling is possible by playing side missions, every couple main missions, the next worm is required because from one mission to the next, the same enemies deal WAY more damage and have WAY more health and unlocking new worms is only feasible through either waiting a full day for new side missions which enable „season progression“ (the rewards for which include currency) or paying for microtransactions. This is really unfortunate, because that means that unless you‘re willing to pay, you can only play maybe two hours per day before you run into this wall.

Now, two hours of mobile gaming in one day is reasonable on normal days, but if you need to kill serious time, like when travelling, these artificial gates - that wasn‘t there before the microtransactions existed! - are gonna incentivise you to pay, and that‘s nefarious psychological manipulation. Not different than any other game‘s with microtransactions, it‘s just that in this case I‘m particularly cogniscient of it because I know how the game worked before, and that‘s just unfortunate and frustrating. I remember this game as one of the best mobile games of all time - and now it‘s just „yet another money grab where I need to be on guard at all times to not fall for the tricks“. I really prefer playing my games without having to think about my bank account; escapism is kind of the point…

The gameplay is still very enjoyable, and for most normal days, these gates won‘t make themselves known too intrusively. So out of loyalty, I‘m still rating 4 stars. But I really hope the devs reconsider the way they incentivise the microtransactions. I‘m very fine with pay to convenience, but pay to win, especially if it feels this artificial, never improves a game.

Erinnert mich an MegaWorm und macht spass

Wirklich mal wieder ein gutes Spiel für zwischendurch. Ich bereue keinen Cent und freue mich immer wieder über eine kleine Runde oder ein Mini Game.

Entwickler-Antwort ,

Danke for your great review!

Death Worm

Ein episches Spiel