It's free. It's SO free.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/06/10 remains among my favorite Penny Arcade comics. I've never played League of Legends, but I've played plenty of freemium games, not a few of which were on Facebook. So Pokémon Shuffle was in good company, and I'm quite used to getting to play a few rounds and then having to wait for energy to recharge.

It's in two ways not my kind of game - match 3 I don't do well at (I enjoyed Puzzle Quest, but usually the games don't have the kind of trappings that keep me interested). And Pokémon and I have a troubled relationship, where in spite of beating one (Pearl), the feeling that I know what I'm doing has never quite hit. A single look at how deeply many people seem to get into the mechanics only reinforces the feeling that I'm an outsider on this series. So when the two come together, it's not the first thing I'd get.

But it got ME. "She's physically forgotten, then she slipped into my pocket with my car keys", sang Paul Simon, and Pokémon Shuffle did much the same. Did I authorize the download, or did it just happen automatically? Not sure anymore. The fact that I started playing it and then KEPT playing it is all me though. But haven't spent a dollar on it, don't intend to, and it speaks for the game that it is quite playable without ever doing so.

Peter Butter

Starting out as a small time reviewer and FAQ author on GameFAQs, my writing has been even more tilted toward the old school than my gaming. I enjoy games of many eras, but I always found it more compelling to write for something that hasn't been done extensively already, which often ruled out the more modern games I played as I tend to run at least a couple of years behind the facts. My Honestgamers catalogue was initially just copying over much of my old GameFAQs work, and then for a time dual submitting to both sites. But over 2015 I posted my first HG exclusives, with hopefully more to follow.

Comments 7

honestgamer Staff Aug 17, 2015

For me, it showed up as a suggested download, and I had to authorize it. Then it downloaded and I had to link my various Nintendo accounts, which I'd wanted to do anyway but hadn't known was possible. Then I started playing it and got to level 180 or so and got stuck and now I'm done with it.

sashanan Blogger Aug 17, 2015

There is one Pokémon, I believe in the 180 range, who has brickwalled a lot of players. Top row made of indestructible blocks which are *also* frozen, and while there are ways around both, they take moves and you get very few. This and a few other stages required me to look for help online.

But I went and looked for it, I saved coins, and I kept trying until I got past it. Me, the half-hearted Pokémon player who wouldn't even touch Candy Crush Saga. So the game's doing *something* right.

overdrive Staff Aug 17, 2015

I was into this and have gotten into the 150s or 160s, but then I downloaded Final Fantasy Record Keeper on my phone and seem to have forgotten Pokemon Shuffle existed. Until I read this, of course, but, uh, the point remains!

sashanan Blogger Aug 18, 2015

Well now...you just named another game I hadn't heard of yet. Available for Android, and free? Hrmm...I just hope my fat fingers on my tiny phone screen manage to control it properly. But only one way to find out!

overdrive Staff Aug 18, 2015

Yeah, it's worth trying. You essentially get a shoehorned plot that leads to you going to all the FF worlds (well, all of them from the main, non-on-line games) to fight old enemies. Boss fights being handled in much the same fashion as in their actual game (Guard Scorpion from FF VII will deliver a counterattack if you attack while its tail is up, for example). They also have Elite versions of every level for more of a challenge and better rewards and regularly schedule special events to get even more characters (you have your guy and then collect a series of job class characters, as well as characters from all the games).

honestgamer Staff Aug 18, 2015

I've been meaning to get into Final Fantasy Record Keeper and even downloaded it, but I've been busy playing a similar game that came out first: Monster-Strike. I've been playing that one daily for almost 300 days now (it keeps track) and it even suckered me into spending some money... though you can play for free and still do everything. It just takes longer and requires you to play smarter.

Downloaded Record Keeper and Fallout Shelter last night. I've never really played anything on the phone, so this'll be interesting.