I'll call it Free2Wait (F2W) to make it simple, but there are a few I have on my phone that I play from time to time. In my mind, this is just one of those situations where, like almost all practices, it can be used horribly, and in this case, it seems that there's been a bit of a market flood of it.
Anyways, the four F2W games I have on my phone currently are You Don't Know Jack, ScrambleWithFriends, TinyTower, and TinyPlanes. In each of these games, waiting until you can play next can serve as a major limit to the game. But it doesn't at all bother me. Why? Because I play these things when I commute. Everyday I normally have to take a 20 minute trip to my University. Most of that time is spent on the train. When I get on it, I'm not looking for a game that'll be wanting me to sink a good chunk of time into. I want something quick and simple to pass the time for a bit, and each of these deliver. Whether I'm answering trivia questions, playing boggle, or managing my virtual skyscraper or airports, I can normally get one of these set of tasks completely done in the time that it takes to get from point A) to point B), walk away, then have something to do again either on the way home, or the next day to keep me going.
Now, I haven't played games like Dungeon Keeper, or that Simpsons one, but if they're shit games, they're shit games. It doesn't mean that just because they are bad, the entire model for them is bad. What F2W games are great for are ones where you're only going to be playing them in short bursts a few times throughout the day, before doing the same tomorrow. That way, the next time you log in, there's some new stuff for you to do to waste your time with. Ideally, the best ones should have a way for you to earn the in game currency through gameplay (In the case of TinyTower for example, by dropping people off on the correct floors) as well as an option to buy the currency directly. But honestly, that can be said for virtually every F2P game out there on the market.
Essentially, in my eyes, F2W games are like potato chips. They're great to snack on, but, if I'm wanting to sit down and have a full, three course meal, I wouldn't be looking at it to serve as the main course in the first place.
Anyways, the four F2W games I have on my phone currently are You Don't Know Jack, ScrambleWithFriends, TinyTower, and TinyPlanes. In each of these games, waiting until you can play next can serve as a major limit to the game. But it doesn't at all bother me. Why? Because I play these things when I commute. Everyday I normally have to take a 20 minute trip to my University. Most of that time is spent on the train. When I get on it, I'm not looking for a game that'll be wanting me to sink a good chunk of time into. I want something quick and simple to pass the time for a bit, and each of these deliver. Whether I'm answering trivia questions, playing boggle, or managing my virtual skyscraper or airports, I can normally get one of these set of tasks completely done in the time that it takes to get from point A) to point B), walk away, then have something to do again either on the way home, or the next day to keep me going.
Now, I haven't played games like Dungeon Keeper, or that Simpsons one, but if they're shit games, they're shit games. It doesn't mean that just because they are bad, the entire model for them is bad. What F2W games are great for are ones where you're only going to be playing them in short bursts a few times throughout the day, before doing the same tomorrow. That way, the next time you log in, there's some new stuff for you to do to waste your time with. Ideally, the best ones should have a way for you to earn the in game currency through gameplay (In the case of TinyTower for example, by dropping people off on the correct floors) as well as an option to buy the currency directly. But honestly, that can be said for virtually every F2P game out there on the market.
Essentially, in my eyes, F2W games are like potato chips. They're great to snack on, but, if I'm wanting to sit down and have a full, three course meal, I wouldn't be looking at it to serve as the main course in the first place.