Virtually Unplayable (unless you pay)
I don’t normally write reviews, but this game was an unfortunate exception.
See, initially I was intrigued because I love word and matching games, so this seemed like a match made in Heaven! I saw this app recommended to me while playing Threes Freeplay and immediately tapped on it to learn more. However, after the first few minutes of playing, it became virtually unplayable because of the sheer lack of free-to-play options. Mostly everything is locked behind a paywall, and I do not understand zen mode at all.
This game, while advertised as free, is anything but that. I would’ve gladly payed a few dollars just to buy the game outright instead of being bombarded with subscription pop-ups and paywalled features. I’m very disappointed.
The only reason I’m giving this game 2 stars instead of 1 is because I enjoy the concept. Otherwise, this game is a hard pass, and I wish I could find a truly free-to-play alternative somewhere.
“We’re like the Netflix of puzzle games,” that phrase is more ironic than you think.
See, initially I was intrigued because I love word and matching games, so this seemed like a match made in Heaven! I saw this app recommended to me while playing Threes Freeplay and immediately tapped on it to learn more. However, after the first few minutes of playing, it became virtually unplayable because of the sheer lack of free-to-play options. Mostly everything is locked behind a paywall, and I do not understand zen mode at all.
This game, while advertised as free, is anything but that. I would’ve gladly payed a few dollars just to buy the game outright instead of being bombarded with subscription pop-ups and paywalled features. I’m very disappointed.
The only reason I’m giving this game 2 stars instead of 1 is because I enjoy the concept. Otherwise, this game is a hard pass, and I wish I could find a truly free-to-play alternative somewhere.
“We’re like the Netflix of puzzle games,” that phrase is more ironic than you think.
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I used to live this game.
This was my favorite game, but recently I cannot access it anymore. I just keep getting the message that the server is down. This has been going on for weeks now.
Yikes
I’m so disappointed in these developers. This bait and switch is truly disgusting, y’all.
A game for the rich
I remember about 10 years ago this was my favourite game (still want to play it again nowadays). Now this game has been overmonetized so much that you can’t justify the cost
Used to be a 5 star game…I will NOT subscribe
I’d be delighted to pay $20 (one time) for this game and get no ads. Just keep it compatible with the newest software, and I’m in. It’s a brilliant game. But, heartbreaking as it may be, these developers keep pushing a subscription to the point that you CANNOT escape their loop of options of either “subscribe now”, or “not sure”.
I’ll never subscribe. I love original puzzle juice, and would pay for this game in its purest form, but don’t sell my data and don’t force a subscription. Terrible sell-out business model. So sad. Because the designers of the game itself did a beautiful job all around (mix of Tetris and a word search with links to dictionary when you pause. Beautiful concept. But sadly sold to soulless people whose only care is that you pay $4.99/month. It’s unplayable for more than a couple games without subscribing now.
I’ll never subscribe. I love original puzzle juice, and would pay for this game in its purest form, but don’t sell my data and don’t force a subscription. Terrible sell-out business model. So sad. Because the designers of the game itself did a beautiful job all around (mix of Tetris and a word search with links to dictionary when you pause. Beautiful concept. But sadly sold to soulless people whose only care is that you pay $4.99/month. It’s unplayable for more than a couple games without subscribing now.
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Either the game is bugged, or you have to subscribe to play
They constantly push their subscription service as soon as you finish the tutorial. It seems like whenever you try and play after saying that you don’t want to subscribe, you can’t play any more games. You can sometimes get into a game, but any words that you try and spell don’t work.
Either they are forcing people to subscribe to play the game, or the game is broken and you can use a fundamental mechanic.
Either they are forcing people to subscribe to play the game, or the game is broken and you can use a fundamental mechanic.
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I paid for this game & then it moved to sub
I paid for this in an earlier IOS. The version I bought doesn’t work anymore, and they moved to subscription. Garbage.
Great game hidden behind pointless paywall.
I would buy this game outright if I could. Instead I am Deleting it and finding something similar without a lazy subscription service attached. Maybe I’ll just play more Threes instead.
Subscription? … Lame
Used to be cool.
Very Sad
Puzzlejuice is one of the very coolest games ever. It scratches your brain in all the right ways. I’ll echo previous reviews, I would have happily paid for this game. One time purchase. Will never subscribe to a game subscription. Ever. You sold out, Puzzlejuice. The developer responses are canned and patronizing.
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Another game ruined
Would have been great but even the earliest stages of gameplay thoroughly obstructed by distractions and ploys to subscribe a large amount to an unknown service. If given the option I would have bought the game outright. No way I’m paying to reward that kind of farce, though.
Just disappointed
This was my favorite game, I’ve been playing since I was 13. This game got me through car rides, long lines at theme parks, doctors appointments, you name it.
Easily one of the best simple games I’ve ever played, I got a new phone and suddenly found out I had to subscribe to have this game from now on, and I simply will not pay the ridiculous amount every month to play one single puzzle game.
So, goodbye to the best game on the App Store tbh.
I would even pay one lump sum of $20 to play this game, but not a subscription. It’s just not worth it.
Easily one of the best simple games I’ve ever played, I got a new phone and suddenly found out I had to subscribe to have this game from now on, and I simply will not pay the ridiculous amount every month to play one single puzzle game.
So, goodbye to the best game on the App Store tbh.
I would even pay one lump sum of $20 to play this game, but not a subscription. It’s just not worth it.
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Best game!
Tetris meets crosswords under time pressure. Multi language support = polyglot advantage! Could use some updates, e. g. LORA
My #1 go-to game for years, until the paywall…
I loved this game for so many years and would have gladly paid an unreasonable sum upfront to have the game in its entirety on my phone. This pay to play bait and switch is an absolute turn-off. As another reviewer mentioned, I went from pouring praise for this game into anyone who asked what I was playing to harboring an intense spite for the developers. I similarly wish this wasn’t looped into some subscription model. Not everyone who wants to play one game wants access to whatever else you think might be related, I’m not signed up for Arcade for the same reasons and never will be. Unless it comes back as a solo app unattached to a sub service, it’s forever deleted from my phone and recommendations.
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Just put a price on the game. Not interested in a subscription service just to play this game.
Deceptive way of getting people to pay you $5 every month. Games kind of a mess too.
Great game
Very addictive. Great game.
No way to just buy this ONE game.
You can’t even play with ads. Nothing. You HAVE to buy the subscription that’s $60 a year if you want to play this game. I love threes so when I found out the same people made a tetris/word search mashup, I was stoked. But I just want this one game. Not your subscription service. Just give us an option to buy the one game!
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not free!!
i used to love this game and i remember paying for it a few years back on a different apple account. i recent thought of it and was pleased to find that it’s now free in the app store. i play the game for a moment and set it down, picking it up one second later only to find i had just closed out of my free trial and i would now have to subscribe to a game service to continue play. this is ridiculous as i don’t find myself playing games frequently enough to subscribe to a whole list of them. what a let down and waste of time. wish i could just play the game because it really is great.
developer there is no need to respond because i’ve already seen the copy and paste paragraph you’ve posted to other reviews and i don’t care one bit about the other games you have. clearly it’s not about that.
developer there is no need to respond because i’ve already seen the copy and paste paragraph you’ve posted to other reviews and i don’t care one bit about the other games you have. clearly it’s not about that.
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Response from developer
It sounds like you've bought this game in the past — Puzzlejuice is a game that doesn't automatically unlock for people that had it previously, but we're happy to restore your purchase if you email us at support@gameclub.io
Ruined by Subscription Service
This is a fantastic inventive game. I would totally pay to buy this game for my phone.
Unfortunately, you can only play the game one and then it locks the game behind a $5/month subscription to some garbage “game service”. No apparent option to buy only Puzzlejuice. No “play it but see adds” (which is annoying, but I would have dealt with).
Again, this is incredibly unfortunate. I really enjoyed the ONE time I was allowed to play this game. I would have happily dropped $5 for this game once. But I’m not going to pay $5/month for a subscription service that is mostly full of what looks to be garbage to play one game.
Unfortunately, you can only play the game one and then it locks the game behind a $5/month subscription to some garbage “game service”. No apparent option to buy only Puzzlejuice. No “play it but see adds” (which is annoying, but I would have dealt with).
Again, this is incredibly unfortunate. I really enjoyed the ONE time I was allowed to play this game. I would have happily dropped $5 for this game once. But I’m not going to pay $5/month for a subscription service that is mostly full of what looks to be garbage to play one game.
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It’s an advertisement, not a game
They let you play one match than you’re locked out until you subscribe, but you can watch ads for their game club until your eyes bleed.
Response from developer
Puzzlejuice is part of a larger game subscription service called GameClub — all-you-can-play access to a large library of curated games (including Puzzlejuice), with hundreds of hours of gameplay within the subscription. Though full access is only included with a subscription, we're committed to letting everyone "try before you buy" — to play enough to get a sense of the game free of charge, a "demo mode' if you will. We also offer a free trial (that you can cancel at any time) so you can play as many of the games in our library as much as you want before spending any money. Hope you take a look at our other titles to give them a try!