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Cookie Run: OvenBreak is a side scrolling runner and gacha game. You jump and slide to collect jellies and avoid obstacles, and you use crystals to draw different cookies and treasures.
Review:
I didn't expect it to be this long >_>, but I have a lot of thoughts about this game as I like it a lot and I've been playing for 10 months. You can check the "Would I recommend this game?" part of the review if you're curious about this game but you don't wanna read everything. Also, here's a quick summary:
It's very grindy. It's fairly free-to-play friendly, or at least as much as a free mobile game can be. The devs listen to their fanbase, but their new updates have been pushing this game more pay-to-play. Still fun. I like the character designs and stories.
The description makes it sound very simple but it's not really about running... it's about upgrading the best cookies, pets, and treasures. While Devsisters, the company who made the game, wants you to think that you can have fun with all of the different cookies, only a handful do well in each of the game modes. Many old cookies are not viable in most game modes simply because they score less... there are objectively better cookies and treasures. Personally, I like grinding (a lot, as I don't spend money on this game) to upgrade different things and come up with different combinations. That doesn't mean that I don't have criticisms though.
Let's talk about the gacha first. While unlocking a cookie generally isn't hard, it's the leveling up that can be tricky. You need multiple copies of each to upgrade them. In the cookie, pet, and treasure gacha, you can pick which ones you want, and you will have a higher chance of getting them. It sounds good on paper, but the rates don't seem right. You might aim to level up a certain cookie, but the gacha will give you copies of many other recent cookies instead. If you're a new player, it's possible that you won't get the cookie you want after three or four chests. This makes it frustrating to level a cookie to max for new players. The treasure gacha is even worse. Using a 10+1 treasure incantation will more often than not give you only 1-3 copies of an epic treasure. The rest are rare treasures which are mostly useless. This makes it frustratingly long and expensive to upgrade them.
Now, the grinding.. The most important resource is crystals which are used to get cookies, pets, and treasures. To be fair, there are reliable ways to get them. Playing the breakout mode will reward you with crystals weekly depending on the score you get. You can also get a fair amount of crystals playing through cookie trials, a tiny amount from trophy race, and events usually give a good amount. So, what's the problem? This can get very, very tedious. Running through the same maps with the same cookies can get incredibly boring, and sometimes it doesn't seem like you're making any significant progress. Again, only a handful of cookies are good, so changing it up by using another character will only slow your progress. And that's assuming you have multiple cookies maxed. If you're a beginner with low leveled cookies and treasures, it's even slower.
They did introduce a new permanent mode in the recent update though, Story Mode. It's beginner friendly and acts as a tutorial. It slowly introduces the different concepts and gives you different rewards for reaching certain milestones. It's also quite generous with its crystals. It has a cute story that integrates some fan favorite cookies, and it will be update regularly. It's the best part of the new update.
Right.. the new update. It's bad. It introduced a new mechanic called invocation cards that are mini abilities you can activate during a run... They have made the game painfully pay to win. They are difficult to get as the currency used to get them, invocation tokens, are not grindable like crystals. There are few consistent ways to get them, and oh yeah, the way you get invocation cards is through gacha, so if you scrape up enough tokens to draw them, it's likely you'll get a bad card anyway. They give a ridiculous amount of points and the most reliable way to get them is through paying, and well, we're not a fan of that here, are we?
There's good news though: they're removing them, or at least nerfing them so they're useless. On July 29th, they will no longer be used in competitive modes. Devsisters does listen to their fanbase... They bring back fan favorites, listen to feedback, interact with their fans and hold events for us to participate in. However, their new updates have been pushing Cookie Run more pay to win. It's complicated, as they do care about their fanbase, but they also wanna milk us as much as they can... ah well.
I made it sound bad 0_0; it is fun though! As I said earlier, I do like the grinding, but obviously that's a personal preference. Aside from the competitive part, you can still enjoy the characters and stories. They're fairly simple, as this is a kid friendly game, but they are still enjoyable. There are many unique designs despite them being cookies (though they have strayed away from that part a bit), and they have genuinely interesting character concepts. The game mechanics are problematic, but in my opinion, the new characters and stories they release rarely disappoint.
Would you recommend this to other users? As much as I love this game, it's really not for everyone. Grinding gets tiring and keeping up with the meta can be difficult. If you want to play this game casually, you'd really have to settle for being mediocre at the competitive game modes. You can still enjoy the game for its characters, stories, and events, but it definitely says something about the game if you need to grind every day to do well... On the other hand, if you want a simple grindy game with interesting characters, this game might be for you! There's something enjoyable about playing through the same levels and seeing how to increase your scores, no? Although there's still a definite meta, there is room for experimentation.
BTW, I'm giving a 3* for the gameplay. I fully enjoy the characters, but I'm reluctant to increase the rating, as to enjoy the characters... so much grinding.. =_=
If you have a question, feel free to ask me! I love talking about this game :] Also, this is my first review, so how'd I do? hehe. It's very messy, I know. I've never been good at organizing my thoughts, but I hope it was.. readable.
Rating (1-5):
Cookie Run: OvenBreak is a side scrolling runner and gacha game. You jump and slide to collect jellies and avoid obstacles, and you use crystals to draw different cookies and treasures.
Review:
I didn't expect it to be this long >_>, but I have a lot of thoughts about this game as I like it a lot and I've been playing for 10 months. You can check the "Would I recommend this game?" part of the review if you're curious about this game but you don't wanna read everything. Also, here's a quick summary:
It's very grindy. It's fairly free-to-play friendly, or at least as much as a free mobile game can be. The devs listen to their fanbase, but their new updates have been pushing this game more pay-to-play. Still fun. I like the character designs and stories.
The description makes it sound very simple but it's not really about running... it's about upgrading the best cookies, pets, and treasures. While Devsisters, the company who made the game, wants you to think that you can have fun with all of the different cookies, only a handful do well in each of the game modes. Many old cookies are not viable in most game modes simply because they score less... there are objectively better cookies and treasures. Personally, I like grinding (a lot, as I don't spend money on this game) to upgrade different things and come up with different combinations. That doesn't mean that I don't have criticisms though.
Let's talk about the gacha first. While unlocking a cookie generally isn't hard, it's the leveling up that can be tricky. You need multiple copies of each to upgrade them. In the cookie, pet, and treasure gacha, you can pick which ones you want, and you will have a higher chance of getting them. It sounds good on paper, but the rates don't seem right. You might aim to level up a certain cookie, but the gacha will give you copies of many other recent cookies instead. If you're a new player, it's possible that you won't get the cookie you want after three or four chests. This makes it frustrating to level a cookie to max for new players. The treasure gacha is even worse. Using a 10+1 treasure incantation will more often than not give you only 1-3 copies of an epic treasure. The rest are rare treasures which are mostly useless. This makes it frustratingly long and expensive to upgrade them.
Now, the grinding.. The most important resource is crystals which are used to get cookies, pets, and treasures. To be fair, there are reliable ways to get them. Playing the breakout mode will reward you with crystals weekly depending on the score you get. You can also get a fair amount of crystals playing through cookie trials, a tiny amount from trophy race, and events usually give a good amount. So, what's the problem? This can get very, very tedious. Running through the same maps with the same cookies can get incredibly boring, and sometimes it doesn't seem like you're making any significant progress. Again, only a handful of cookies are good, so changing it up by using another character will only slow your progress. And that's assuming you have multiple cookies maxed. If you're a beginner with low leveled cookies and treasures, it's even slower.
They did introduce a new permanent mode in the recent update though, Story Mode. It's beginner friendly and acts as a tutorial. It slowly introduces the different concepts and gives you different rewards for reaching certain milestones. It's also quite generous with its crystals. It has a cute story that integrates some fan favorite cookies, and it will be update regularly. It's the best part of the new update.
Right.. the new update. It's bad. It introduced a new mechanic called invocation cards that are mini abilities you can activate during a run... They have made the game painfully pay to win. They are difficult to get as the currency used to get them, invocation tokens, are not grindable like crystals. There are few consistent ways to get them, and oh yeah, the way you get invocation cards is through gacha, so if you scrape up enough tokens to draw them, it's likely you'll get a bad card anyway. They give a ridiculous amount of points and the most reliable way to get them is through paying, and well, we're not a fan of that here, are we?
There's good news though: they're removing them, or at least nerfing them so they're useless. On July 29th, they will no longer be used in competitive modes. Devsisters does listen to their fanbase... They bring back fan favorites, listen to feedback, interact with their fans and hold events for us to participate in. However, their new updates have been pushing Cookie Run more pay to win. It's complicated, as they do care about their fanbase, but they also wanna milk us as much as they can... ah well.
I made it sound bad 0_0; it is fun though! As I said earlier, I do like the grinding, but obviously that's a personal preference. Aside from the competitive part, you can still enjoy the characters and stories. They're fairly simple, as this is a kid friendly game, but they are still enjoyable. There are many unique designs despite them being cookies (though they have strayed away from that part a bit), and they have genuinely interesting character concepts. The game mechanics are problematic, but in my opinion, the new characters and stories they release rarely disappoint.
Would you recommend this to other users? As much as I love this game, it's really not for everyone. Grinding gets tiring and keeping up with the meta can be difficult. If you want to play this game casually, you'd really have to settle for being mediocre at the competitive game modes. You can still enjoy the game for its characters, stories, and events, but it definitely says something about the game if you need to grind every day to do well... On the other hand, if you want a simple grindy game with interesting characters, this game might be for you! There's something enjoyable about playing through the same levels and seeing how to increase your scores, no? Although there's still a definite meta, there is room for experimentation.
BTW, I'm giving a 3* for the gameplay. I fully enjoy the characters, but I'm reluctant to increase the rating, as to enjoy the characters... so much grinding.. =_=
If you have a question, feel free to ask me! I love talking about this game :] Also, this is my first review, so how'd I do? hehe. It's very messy, I know. I've never been good at organizing my thoughts, but I hope it was.. readable.
Rating (1-5):
