Lives up to its ads (mostly)
Sun Apr 13 2025 Dalani1256I’ve been playing this game a month or two now, waiting for the inevitable moment when it would succumb to all of the things it advertised against. Shockingly, that time never came.
The ads are the kidnapper types and they are every level, but I guess they’re technically “skippable” if you have determined fingers. So that part of the ad was misleading. My issue isnt with the ads, the devs need to eat, it’s the type of ad. HOWEVER, I will gladly take a reasonable amount of mildly irritating ads for the fantastic haptics, smooth gameplay, simple and well executed feeling of progression by collecting tiles, not having fifteen pop ups every time you open the app, not having a big laggy winding path like a lot of puzzle apps ripping off candy crush, and a very charming narrator though I have turned him off admittedly, sorry bro (I almost never play phone apps with sound). I love his goofy expressions though, and the quips I have heard are much more entertaining than stuff like the candy crush mascot.
I usually hyperfixate on a game for a couple of weeks and then forget it’s on my phone, but I have found myself repeatedly going to this one when I’ve needed something absentminded for my hands without ever getting bored. It’s the perfect amount of stimulation. Absolutely one of my top three phone games of all time.
The only match 3 game I would actually play.
Sun Mar 02 2025 chickennoodlebeastI normally don’t like match 3 games because they all share the same issues. This one however, doesn’t have any of those issues. Most match 3 games have power ups that you can buy with real money, or energy that goes down when you lose and you have to wait for or pay to refill. Both these things aren’t horrible on their own, but the apps that have them will make certain levels obnoxiously difficult to basically force you to pay for more energy and/or power ups. This game thankfully has none of those things. No stupid paid currency, no stupid abrupt difficulty curve, no stupid lives on a puzzle game. Yes, it is slightly generic in terms of the actual gameplay, but the actual collecting aspect and narrator add a bit of charm to it. The only somewhat negative aspect is the ads, but get real. It’s a mobile game. It’s either ads, or the game isn’t free, whether that be through in app purchases or just making the base game cost money.
TLDR: No greedy in app purchases, nice relaxing game, just a bit ad heavy.
Matching goodness
Mon Oct 14 2024 ValandelleEdit:
Now at level 138 and it showed me an ad when going into the level. I didn’t click it or anything. I was able to bypass it quickly, but it was there and I didn’t choose for it to be. :/
Original:
It’s so nice to not be pressured when playing a game. I much prefer just purchasing a game vs ads. So far this one has been free and it’s not forced me to watch a single ad. There are ads at the bottom and there is a little balloon that you can click that flys by which will show you an ad, and then you get a flower power up. I’m on level 87 and haven’t had an ad pop up that I didn’t initiate. I don’t know if it’s always been this way, but I super appreciate it. I love simple, stress free games when I’m anxious or I need something to do while waiting for something. This has been great. I play with the sound off, because I can’t stand most sounds so I can’t say whether that is good or not. But the standard not flashy matching is great. Id love an option to pay to remove the banner ads at the bottom, but honestly, even for how easily I get distracted, they don’t bother me. So, good job developers! Simple, fun game, no annoying ads. Thanks! :)
I love this game 🩷
Thu Feb 15 2024 Elodie935I’ve only played a few minutes but I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite mobile games. I hate all the match-3 games out there because they are too colorful and it just hurts to look at, not to mention the repetitive music. This is just simple and fun and you have a nice little face to keep you company and talk to you. It’s very charming and I love the premise. I got here from an ad, and the reason I even considered getting the game is because it didn’t pause the video I was watching (or be so loud that I couldn’t hear my video) when the ad started playing and so I gave it a chance to say it’s piece for being considerate instead of demanding, and the ad was straightforward and short and kept me engaged the whole time. There were many things that drew me in was both the simplicity of it but also just being honest about how you want to be the next hit game. I’m all for it and I’ll support you every step of the way, keep it up, I can already tell you’re amazing!!!
Sincerely,
A very optimistic fan, Elodie
Fun in the beginning, then repetitive
Mon Apr 14 2025 Stinkz727I’ve had this game for some months now and it started out as an enjoyable experience. I can say that I truly appreciate the shortened ads and like how they don’t interrupt the gameplay too often. I also love the fact that I can play endlessly without running out of “lives”or “hearts”. The designs of the icons/tiles are very aesthetically appealing and fun to collect. Overall, it’s a nice game to pass the time. All these features are still great. However, I’ve come to a point where I’m not really interested in it anymore. I’ve played over 3000 levels and have noticed that many levels are redundant and use the same layout repeatedly. Despite completing a high number of levels, it has become terribly frustrating that I keep unlocking the same icons over and over, without being able to move past the second collection. The collectible icons are the most rewarding aspect of the game and it’s disappointing that I play hundreds of levels without seeing new ones. I’m hoping that the developers will work on putting more effort into making levels more intriguing or challenging, as well as making it easier to obtain new icons.
The single best match three game ever.
Thu Nov 23 2023 phiIosoraptorThere are so many popular cash grab apps ready to steal your money and patience. I’ve seen ‘em all—and all the ads that come with them. But this app has created a safe haven from all the greedy scam apps out there, a shelter where weary travelers like me can rest and find comfort.
I was expecting to delete this game in five minutes—no, two minutes—but I was absolutely blown away when I compared the app to the advertisement and confirmed every single word in that ad to be true. It’s the greatest example that honesty goes a long way—especially in marketing. And although the British accent on your mustachioed character could be fixed, it can be easily overlooked due to the amazing work you’ve done and the impressive story of perseverance and integrity you’ve told.
I've never seen a game this easy to fall in love with—or an advertisement so honest—anywhere else in the App Store. Keep up the great work, Staple Games, and maybe you’ll teach those big companies a lesson the world could benefit from.
Please turn the ads back off
Thu Aug 07 2025 Semperfi22mI absolutely loved this game and all it did to support st. Jude and Ryan and Hailey through their 50 states 50 days journey. I played this game so much during the whole series. I recommended the game to everyone even if they weren’t watching Ryan and Haileys journey. It was just that fun. However, I was extremely disappointed to go to play it again today and saw they turned the ads back on. Now every time I finish a level or fail a level I have to watch an ad. Unfortunately this ruins the game experience. I understand this is how the game makes money. However, you had to watch an ad if you wanted an extra power up originally. Which I was fine with. There were also ads at the bottom of the screen that didn’t interfere with game play. These options were great. They made sense and didn’t interfere with the experience. The full length videos after every game however does make the game feel like a cash grab. It’s for this reason I’m not giving this game 5 stars. The ads take you out of the experience, you can’t level up as quickly, and they ruin the status of the game for me.
So Great! …but can’t get rid of ads
Fri Oct 06 2023 PaganwitchIAThis game is great! Who knew a British narrator would put a game over the top?! This match 3 game has a different feel and I absolutely love it! I had actually been tired of the genre, but when I saw a preview, I thought yeah let’s try it! My one suggestion would be to continue to expand this game! There are so many ways you can make it even better. If I could pay $5 to get rid of pop up ads in this game I would do it right now! There is no option (‘yet’ hopefully). Games with uncontrollable ads usually get deleted from my phone immediately. But I’m going to hold onto hope for a little while that this option might become available. Oh, and please don’t try to charge $15-$20 to remove ads. That is quite a commitment for a match three game. I think that games that ask for that much are being unreasonable. It’s also a gamble on their part if you ask me. Anyway, I would love to give this 5 stars. When I can remove pop ups, I will.
Full screen Ads after EVERY level
Thu Mar 27 2025 JustAnAvgConsumerIt’s a fun game, and at first was exactly how their advertisements went. Ads only appeared as banner ads at the bottom of the screen. Very harmless. However, I’ve noticed recently that full screen ads start playing after EVERY level I complete/play. Whatever happened to “the only ads you’ll see are the ones as a banner at the bottom of the screen”? So that was a lie, and I hope you fix this.
It’s ridiculous blatant misinformation isn’t addressed the same as other problematic things in life; when things aren’t advertised the way they ACTUALLY appear in an app, that should be taken to trial for misrepresentation of a product. I was told this app’s ads were done in a specific way to be more consumer-friendly compared to other apps available on the App Store. Turns out, after playing for awhile, ads return to how it is everywhere else. Full screen and can only skip after viewing it for several seconds. Banner ads are still present, but the full screen ones shouldn’t exist (from what I was told in their promotional material). This is blatant misrepresentation of your product and you should be ashamed of yourselves for being just like everyone else in the market.
Downgraded by the Upgrade
Sun Jul 20 2025 NW-JunkfoodPrevious to the latest upgrade (Version 3.01) I truly enjoyed playing this game, but I think I will soon delete it, unless the next upgrade fixes the huge issue I have now. I guess the developers of the game didn’t think they were making enough money with the many ads needing to be watched during game play. The latest update seems to have doubled the number of minutes need for game play. In all previous versions I have played there was a “bonus” piece that would float across the screen. When you tapped on that floating piece a power up would be immediately placed on the game board, to help get the board completed. Now, after the latest update to Version 3.01, when you click on the floating “bonus” piece, more than half the time you are required to watch a rather long ad, and frequently without a skip option, causing a great disruption to game play. The disruption is so annoying that I find myself no longer wanting to play the game any more. If this new annoyance is not eliminated soon, I will likely remove the game from my iPhone.
