Credit where it's due: The premise and presentation of this game are certainly charming. The magic powers you get are useful without being broken, and the levels are varied in themes and mechanics.

The problem is that the systems of reward and punishment just don't feel good.

Losing a life is absolutely miserable. Not because lives are scarce - if anything they're over-abundant - but because it takes so much time to get your upgrades back. Quitting a world mid-run forfeits any gold you've earned retroactively. You want to help the village folk? Go ahead, but know that it will take you that much longer to 100% the grindy late-game achievements. You grinded out 50,000 gold? Congratulations! Go ahead and buy the most expensive item - all it will do is unlock a bad ending.

I am absolutely positive this game would be better reviewed if the progression was reworked as follows:

• All money is cumulative, and never lost (with the exception of gold earned in a single run being lost with a game over). Buildings are fixed (unlocked) in a linear order at logical increments, the final building being fixed at 30,000 gold or so.
  
  
• Instead of being re-purchased after each death, charms unlock when particular buildings are fixed, are not lost, and can be toggled from the pause menu. Stronger charms like magnet and multi-ball are unlocked when the last couple buildings are fixed.

Boom - with properly tuned number values, you've removed all need to grind from this game, made later levels feel less BS (because you're no longer doing them charmless post-death), and made the overall gameplay less punishing. It's too easy now, you say? Make charms enact negative multipliers to the gold earned, and make lives no longer retained across worlds. Now you've got the risk/reward back; you start each world with 5 lives and fewer charms give you more rewards, but a greater chance of game over, and losing everything you earned that run.

Instead, shops are largely irrelevant if you already have the charms, which usually makes them feel like a waste of time and a well-positioned orb. You're incentivized to not fix anything until you have the "Filthy Rich" achievement, and - again - losing a life just feels like you're being massively inconvenienced.

Real talk - if this were sitting at "mixed," I'd probably go ahead and give it a thumbs-up anyway. But at 77% positive, the lack of a horizontal-thumb rating means I'm gonna go ahead and say,

Not recommended.

[h1]Not fun enough for how punishing it is[/h1] Credit where it's due: The premise and presentation of this game are certainly charming. The magic powers you get are useful without being broken, and the levels are varied in themes and mechanics. The problem is that the systems of reward and punishment just don't [i]feel[/i] good. Losing a life is absolutely miserable. Not because lives are scarce - if anything they're over-abundant - but because it takes so much time to get your upgrades back. Quitting a world mid-run forfeits any gold you've earned [i]retroactively[/i]. You want to help the village folk? Go ahead, but know that it will take you that much longer to 100% the grindy late-game achievements. You grinded out 50,000 gold? Congratulations! Go ahead and buy the most expensive item - all it will do is unlock a bad ending. I am absolutely positive this game would be better reviewed if the progression was reworked as follows: [list] [*] All money is cumulative, and never lost (with the exception of gold earned in a single run being lost with a game over). Buildings are fixed (unlocked) in a linear order at logical increments, the final building being fixed at 30,000 gold or so. [*] Instead of being re-purchased after each death, charms unlock when particular buildings are fixed, are not lost, and can be toggled from the pause menu. Stronger charms like magnet and multi-ball are unlocked when the last couple buildings are fixed.[/list] Boom - with properly tuned number values, you've removed all need to grind from this game, made later levels feel less BS (because you're no longer doing them charmless post-death), and made the overall gameplay less punishing. It's too easy now, you say? Make charms enact negative multipliers to the gold earned, and make lives no longer retained across worlds. Now you've got the risk/reward back; you start each world with 5 lives and fewer charms give you more rewards, but a greater chance of game over, and losing everything you earned that run. Instead, shops are largely irrelevant if you already have the charms, which usually makes them feel like a waste of time and a well-positioned orb. You're incentivized to not fix anything until you have the "Filthy Rich" achievement, and - again - losing a life just feels like you're being massively inconvenienced. Real talk - if this were sitting at "mixed," I'd probably go ahead and give it a thumbs-up anyway. But at 77% positive, the lack of a horizontal-thumb rating means I'm gonna go ahead and say, Not recommended.