Top 10 WORST Pay-To-Win Games

In this ambitious turn-based RPG, players are given the opportunity to play as their favorite Marvel superhero. While the game starts out with Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye and a customizable S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent to play as, gaining they rest of Marvel Universe as well as weapons and upgrades for the Agent is not as easy. Some characters cost a set amount of Command Points, which can be obtained through in- game grinding or by using Gold to buy them. Gold, in itself, is bought with real currency. Some characters, Agent weapons, and items can only be purchased through Gold. Only Tony Stark himself would be able to afford this game’s full experience.

This addictive RTS is the hit of mobile gaming scene amassing over $1 million a day at its peak. While that’s big, developer Supercell didn’t make all that money by having players download the game for free. To speed their progress along, Clash players can buy Gems to level up their troops and buildings at a faster rate. While Gems aren't required to play the game, leveling up to higher levels starts to become a chore. Some of these classes will take 14 days before reaching the highest level without Gems being used. That is truly outrageous.

Starting life as a struggling MMO, this GTA-inspired third person shooter was eventually changed over to a free-to-play model. With this change brought the inclusion of the G1C or Gamers First Credit. Sold in packs of 400 G1C for $5.00 each, players can obtain premium weapons, gear, skins, and vehicles without the hassle of grinding. While items purchased with G1C aren’t game braking, players who choose to not to pay may be at a disadvantage. The crown jewel of these in-game purchases is Premium mode. When purchased for 1, 3, or 6 months, Premium mode offers players bonuses, status buffs, and in-game marketplace discounts. The G1C needed to go Premium for 6 months is over $41, yikes.

Where would other free-to-play games be without this profitable farming sim? Easy to begin but hard to master, players start with as small plot to farm and a handful of crops. As the players are encouraged with various gameplay events to expand their farm and watching over the farm becomes a daily task, the process becomes addictive yet time-consuming. Bigger crops take days before harvesting and expanding to certain areas require players being at a certain level. With the “help” of Farm Cash, (paid for by real cash) crops can be harvested instantly, areas can be acquired without leveling up and much more. With the game’s massive options it is either wait-to-play or bribe your way to victory.

For fans of FIFA soccer, Ultimate Team gives players the option to create their own dream team. With a starting squad and ability to gain more soccer players on loan, gamers can earn a decent amount of FIFA Coins by competing in matches and squad challenges. These coins can be used to buy more soccer players for the ultimate team. What makes it decidedly less ultimate is the fact that most of the better soccer stars like Cristiano Ronaldo are purchased at a more exorbitant rate which can go up to millions of coins. FIFA coins can also be purchased instead of earned but just like the club in Barcelona, sometimes you have to pay if you want the best.

Not content with having bad piggies inside this colorful kart racer, Rovio must have had a couple that helped develop this game. While the gameplay are fun, the characters are unique and the powers are awesome; there are only five tracks available at the start of the game. There are also tedious wait times for lackluster upgrades, which can be bypassed by the game’s premium currency, Gems. To top it off, some of the premium carts can only be purchased with Gems, the most expensive of which runs at 1,500. Unless a player spent the time gaining these Gems in races, 1,500 Gems will cost $50 to obtain. More like Angry Birds No.

Only Homer Simpson can destroy all of Springfield and be put in the situation to rebuild it. Spending millions of in-game currency isn’t hard if you’re willing to wait 4-36 hours per building. These delays can be quickly resolved with some tasty donuts. Premium buildings, characters, and items can also be bought with the delicious confectionary rings. Of course, donuts force players to cough up their dough, which may put them into deep D’oh. Even more damning, the city-building sim is fully aware of its freemium nature and takes the time to poke fun at itself about it, that’s cute but being self aware doesn’t make it ok guys.

With gameplay as sweet and addictive as actual candy, this puzzle game has become a massive hit. Once the players’ lives run out, however, they have to wait a half hour to continue or pay for more lives. In later levels, lives can dissolve faster than milk chocolate, so power-ups would be the way to go. They would be, but players have to pay for those too. Even gaining new levels can be a pain with either playing a random potentially harder puzzle, hitting up three friends on Facebook or paying for them outright. This is one batch of candy that can leave a sour taste.

Starting out with a few heroes, players will have to buy 35 other characters for $.99 (US) each at random. Players may have to keep spending to get the character they want. In addition, each character needs 3 minutes to recover after death in order and one at a time. Should everyone or nearly everyone dies it will take over an hour to get back to action. Using a golden hourglass will revive everyone instantly, but those are $.99 each as well once the three free hourglasses given to new players has been used. Worst of all, this “game” was $4 at launch. A shameless cash-grab, All the Bravest, is a black eye to the entire series.

We cannot finish talking about shameless embarrassments to beloved gaming series without our #1 pick. Based loosely on the 1997 strategy favorite of the same name, this tower defense game focuses on digging out tiles to expand the dungeon. Players can expect to wait 4-24 hours to take out a single tile unless they use Gems paid for by real money to remove them. These micro transactions caused the game to receive scathing reviews including one that called it "unplayable" and The British Advertising Standards Authority ruled that EA even misled customers by calling it “free”. When Peter Molyneux, creator of the first Dungeon Keeper calls it “FarmVille’ for even bigger suckers” you know EA screwed up.