iTuesday Review: Mooniz for iPhone

Mooniz for iPhone is a pretty addicting game that takes only a short time to get the hang of. Creatures of different colors fill the screen (I guess these would be the Moonizs). When you see 3 or more of the same color in a row you tap it. Larger combos yield more points. Points lead to stars. A set number of stars is required to get to the next round. You can also bring three different power ups (with five to choose from) into battle with you. It’s pretty straightforward, and as I already mentioned very addicting.

What makes Mooniz interesting is that it borders on the line of a free game and a pay game. The game is free to download, and free to play, but you’ll be able to play longer if you throw some money down. Here is how it works. Every 12 hours you can spin a wheel to earn coins, sort of like a Wheel-Of-Fortune type scenario. You only get three lives, but extra ones can be purchased with these coins. The coins are also used to purchase the power ups at the beginning of the game. So if you don’t have any coins you can still play but without the use of power ups and you’ll be limited to three lives.

One thing I do appreciate is that there is no “0” spot on the wheel

So what do you do if you really want to have the full experience of the game, but don’t have any coins? Well you purchase more via an in-app purchase of course!  On the low-end 1000 coins will cost you $.99 (you can also buy 7 wheel spins for the same price) on the high-end 20,000 coins will run you $9.99. I’ve been trying to decide all week how I feel about this. On the one hand, you can still play the game even without having to purchase coins, and you do get a couple wheel spins a day so its not like you have to spend money to use power ups or continues. On the other hand, it’s an addicting game and your going to want to buy more coins – and ultimately you’ll run out of them. 10,000 will probably last you a long long time – but the game is not worth $9.99 and eventually your still just buying credits that can run out.

In the end, you don’t have anything to lose by downloading the app and trying it out. I would recommend doing so. I would advise opening it every twelve hours to stock up on coins. Even though it’s a bit of a pain to not have the ability to play as long as you want, whenever you want; the game is a lot of fun so I wouldn’t pass it up.

Final Rating: 6.5/10

CBR Break Down:
Console Played On: iPhone 4
Approximate Time to Completion: N/A
Price Bought at: Free
Current Price: It’s complicated
Recommend Purchase Price: If they ever release an unlimited version for $1.99 or less I would go for it.