Bard Idle

Whether this game is your jam will depend on what you want out of a game. I wanted something fairly casual with a little challenge but no requirement that I stay fixed in place. This is very much that type of game. It's silly and, for the most part, easy to play. I enjoy the cartoony old school graphics and the RPG-ish elements throughout. I've played (at this point) over 170 hours of the game (lots of idling, as implied by the game type). Its central problem is one that everyone else has noted: there are significant aspects of your progression in the game that will be dependent on having the necessary resources. Some of those resources have no in-game mechanism for getting them in amounts that scale up your progression as you move higher and higher in the game. Thus, your only way around the excessive grind or having entire runs go south because you can't re-roll something is to pay. And pay again. Now, *I* don't mind paying for a game. Once. Just once. But I absolutely refuse to pay insane amounts of money to get access to things that will only marginally speed up my progression -- and it would, from what I can tell, be a marginal improvement. $99.99 for the candy pack so you can get a thingy that earns you a candy per hour is hardly justified for the marginal benefit it will provide. $30 is probably too much, but I might have paid it already if it were that low because I obviously enjoy the game. But if I'm going to pay $99.99 for something I need in a game, I'll buy three other games and play those instead. I hope they change this. I get it. They need to make money here, but that is simply ridiculous. And until they fix that, I'm not sure I can recommend the game to anyone. I want to because I clearly enjoy it, but most people don't want to fork away 170+ hours of their lives on a game (and then another 170+ hours times ten if they don't want to pay those outrageous prices). So that's where I'm at. A bit disappointing, really.

This game has a system of monetization I really cannot support. Several of the game's key mechanics are locked behind a paywall. Worse, it's less of a "pay-wall" and more a "pay-revolving door", because most of those mechanics are repeatable/resetting purchases. The cash shop is attached to almost every aspect of this game. But for those mechanics it's not attached to yet, I suspect future updates will rectify that issue. And a lot of those in-game purchases are centered around fixing some of the game's more annoying mechanics. I understand the desire to get paid. But, as an example, offering a $99 premium currency bundle, and developing key game mechanics so that they rapidly drain that premium currency feels absurd to me. Especially for a low-quality game like this. You won't actually get anything that feels worth that much money in this game either. You'd just be spending that money on cheap but frustrating gimmicks that have no lasting impact. Likewise, assuming you wanted to support the devs, this is not a game where you can throw in a 1-time $5 purchase and feel satisfied with that choice. If you're going to spend, you'd have to spend a lot to make that choice feel like a meaningful improvement to your gaming experience. (Don't be mislead by the number of hours shown on my record. The overwhelming majority of that is just me leaving the game idle. The game doesn't actually offer an incentive to do that, however. You have to play somewhat actively to make any progress. I just have a bad habit of ignoring the game rather than shutting it down.)

Again, I wish Steam had a neutral option. And yes, I'm aware this is EA and I hope most of which gets updated or implemented. This isn't a bad game at all. It's quite entertaining and has an awesome concept. Hire different Heroes w/RNG classes + stats and let them destroy enemies. Though, the idling part takes time and a bit of TLC until you can unlock auto camp and rest. Would be helpful if majority was Idle without being locked behind a book. - UI alerts can get very annoying, but it's tolerable. Still could at least turn them off when you show them the first time. - Cannot switch your Heroes position. It's automatic. Healers or low HP heroes can be in front instantly being killed, yet tanks are in the back not tanking. Should at least be an option to change heroes position. - Closing the game out with soup buff and loading back up, the soup buff/timer is gone; along with heroes positions are changed too (but that doesn't matter since they aren't static to YOUR decision) - No option to jump up/down the heroes list. Scrolling for days! - About the store and candy: I don't see any issues with it. Games like these are meant for a long-term grind that people keep ignoring. If someone wants a boost by supporting the developer, so be it. Although, there should be more alternatives to earning more candy if you're going for the long-term grind legitimately. Bard Idle needs a lot of work still. It's free, try it out and see for yourself.