Empires & Puzzles: Match 3 RPG

I am a long time gamer of all varieties. I take my hat off to small giant for this game. The game play is just right for a mobile device. It’s got enough flavors of puzzle, rpg, and world building to keep you involved. The story is campy and silly, but that’s fine, he game never pretended not to be a little silly—and I like that. There’s little bits of humor everywhere if you look. I’ve been playing for going on a year and change now. Still have stuff to do and hero teams to build. You also don’t have to spend money to succeed, at all. It helps, sure, but there’s no gating with money, just increases your odds of getting good stuff if you have more chances at the hero lottery, so to speak. It’s also the only mobile game that does group team building right for the small screen. Prepping for wars and strategizing how to win as an alliance of 30 some people has been the best part for me. Reminds me of when I used to have more time for games like WoW. Sure you don’t get the full immersion, but still get some of the feels with this little game. My only beef is what a lot of folks complain about, the raid system seems super unbalanced and is downright annoying at times. But, it’s apparent small giant are always working their butts off to tweak it, so hats off to them again for that. Also, this game is not for the impatient. Strategy is the log game sometimes.

I just wanted to add my 2 certs here. There are so many people that are writing reviews and complaining about HAVING to spend money in order to advance your 4 and 5* heroes in this game. Maybe if you want to ascend them rapidly but if you want to actually get into the game then spending cash is not really needed. I've been playing this game for around 2 years now and i am a member in a fantastic alliance who plays together for FUN. Granted I do have a hero that I got in Feb of 2018 as my monthly free luck of the draw and haven't been able to fully ascend and for the longest time I wasn't having any luck with lvl 20 training and then BOOM I started getting 5* heroes from training alone. Multiple heroes. And I've been able to ascend them pretty rapidly. Would I like to see some ascension items easier to obtain for everyone, absolutely! Would I like to see it not cost as much for certain things like upgrading buildings or research? Sure. But I get it and I still enjoy the game and I will continue to play the game. As for the "pop-ups" that appear....those are just letting you know what's being offered in the game. Close them out and start playing. It's that simple. The BIGGEST THING ME AND MY ALLIANCE ARE HOPING FOR AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE IS INTER ALLIANCE TRADING!!that would be fantastic. Other than that keep up the excellent work. Empires and puzzles is a great mobile game.

I do like playing this game, I have been playing awhile and check on my empire frequently. Maybe too much. I especially like the match game twist, it’s a bit more engaging than an idle RPG. There is always a new mission or quest to complete. Titan to gang up on, Heroes to level up, or something to build or upgrade. It is very much a long term game, not for the impatient instant gratification types. I dare say you are better off not shelling out a lot of money for better heroes. If you take the slow steady approach you will have the ascension items before you need them most of the time. If you buy heroes you will end up having to wait for items to strengthen them far too often. If I were to make one complaint it would be how the raids are handled. Never mind your team power score, or even the multiple times they have revised how they are calculated, they have little bearing on your ability to win raids. It all comes down to how many special attacks you get off. Who ever makes the most special attacks, wins. Special attack energy is almost always slanted. The winner typical makes two to three attacks for the losers one. There will be seasons where it’s slanted in your favor, other times it will be slanted against you. Those rare times you are equally matched a raid can last upwards of 30 moves or more. If there were not rewards for engaging in raids, I wouldn’t bother doing raids. It’s that much of a nuisance.

The reviews on here that state you have to “pay to win” and “never guaranteed you do win when you spend x amount” are Bogus claims. Playing this game is a marathon, not a dAsh to the finish. It’s team building; material farming adventure that takes months to get every character and item your so desperately wanting. The Months it takes to lever characters, upgrade buildings, play through the story and quests takes time and patience. You can spend money to get the things your so desperately wanting now with odd/chances against you OR you can just play the game and wait for the quest and tournaments to give you the items your wanting(takes time) What your goals in the gameplay can also differ. So any reviews telling you about bad character/teams or not getting them. Those people know they spend money with odd slim and change with every season. and spending money is no guarantee to any item due to the lottery/change type of buying. They tell you the % of chance to get certain items/ If your looking for a game you can dig into, put in the time needed to make it the team and build it have patience because they give you gem to spend, they give you many items to build you characters. Give this game the your time it deserves before giving it a review. **Happy Adventures Slawguhy

Been playing this game for about a year now. Partly because I’ve made some great friends in my alliance I’ve been a daily player. The game itself is a clever combination of elements built around a core match 3 setup. The defining gameplay feature centers on the placement of your matches on the board dictate what enemy you hit, it opens up a depth of strategy and fun not found in other rpg/match 3 mashups. As others have noted it is a looong term game. As far as requiring money to advance, It certainly helps, but there are many high level players in our alliance that have spent $0-$20 over a year span. Most frustrating element is drop rates on items needed to ascend your 5* heroes. Honestly if you play a lot you will be able to pick up the items you need to ascend 4* heroes regularly, but those dang top end materials are few and far between. It took me 10 months to get enough materials to max my first 5* hero. This game is a grind, the greed of developers can be a bit offensive, but the irony of spending money on gems to get better heroes is the better heroes are worthless until you play the game enough to get the items needed to make them stronger so it is really counterproductive to your game to do so. Better off being patient, finding a good alliance and letting your team grow organically.