10 Advertisements for Mobile Games That Are Straight up Lies
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Published
02/26/2021
in
wtf
Mobile games have a reputation. While many can be beautiful or simple, they often are not quite what the adverts sold you on.
There are always details that run amiss. Whether you're being sold on sexualized elf-girls or a "premium" experience only to be bombarded by ads, these mobile games look nothing like advertised.
And while your here, check out: The Fifteen Most Expensive In-Game Items Ever Sold
There are always details that run amiss. Whether you're being sold on sexualized elf-girls or a "premium" experience only to be bombarded by ads, these mobile games look nothing like advertised.
And while your here, check out: The Fifteen Most Expensive In-Game Items Ever Sold
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1.
Mythwars Puzzles should tip you off by the title alone that this game is just a match-three puzzle game in the vein of Candy Crush. However, from its official marketing, you'd think that the game was an epic RPG. The ads bury the lead constantly, framing it as an epic fantasy roleplaying game...when it's as epic as your average game of Bejeweled. -
2.
Mythwars Puzzles is just another jewel game, as you will notice is common for these misleading mobile games. -
3.
Clockmaker is yet another match-icons-together puzzle game. Yet this game frames itself as an atmospheric mystery in several adverts. This is of course not including the times Clockmaker uses bizarrely mismatched ads featuring generic cartoon characters rather than any built-in models from the game. -
4.
Clockmaker gameplay? Oh, look more jewels! -
5.
Looking at this image, you probably wouldn't recognize which mobile game this even belongs to. That is because, when researching for this article, I found several cases of the exact same adverts being used over and over again by different mobile companies. Many use this generic "Save this person!" advert, when marketing, say, a generic puzzle game or simple sim game. If I had to point one game out for it, I'd list them all. A big offender of this? Gardenscape. -
6.
Township is a town simulation game where you micromanage events transpiring in your town. On the surface, there isn't much here that should be controversial. However, some adverts frame the game as a mystery game, tasking you to FIND people rather than just...build your town. This is of course not including the numerous ads that just don't even mention the town aspect of all, of which there are several. -
7.
Township's gameplay is not totally jewel-play, but there are some diamonds, but mostly it's just crops and flowers. -
8.
Mundus Impossible Universe once again frames this generic puzzle game as some colossal, enigmatic adventure game. In reality, it's just a puzzle game. Making it even more insidious is how you'd never know it's a puzzle game unless you did research first. Even the aesthetics of its ad are in complete contrast to its generic, cartoonish in-game style. -
9.
Mundus Impossible Universe? Oh nice, jewels again, that looks fun. -
10.
Mafia City is actually not a bad game. It's a strategy game that, much like Township, allows you to manage several assets at once. In this case, a mafia business. However, the adverts make it out to look like either a GTA clone or some sort of open-ended choose your adventure story. Neither is true. -
11.
Mafia City is a building expansion game, where you building towns and grow your empire. While it isn't more jewels, it's a far cry from the poster art. -
12.
Homescapes is infamous for its terrible ads. It incorporated several random adverts over its marketing campaign, none of which actually showed you the game for what it is: a home modification simulator. Rather, you'd see "Watch her escape!" ads, which, considering the game is literally about designing homes, seems incredibly misleading at best. -
13.
Homescapes is one of if not the most hated of all mobile games. The gameplay is nothing like advertised. -
14.
Voodoo's marketing chases trends. Voodoo is a company that releases several inexpensive, cheap games. Many have accused Voodoo of ripping off their intellectual property. These people have a lot of evidence to back up this claim. Voodoo's marketing is often cheap, often appealing to whatever is popular at that moment, and almost always hides their brand's cheapness. However, it appears to be working, since their apps have been downloaded billions of times. -
15.
Guns of Glory is another real-time strategy/tower defense game. It's genuinely a pretty fun casual game, but the adverts often look nothing like the game itself. Many of the adverts feature complex CG character models and lots of in-the-midsts action sequences. The reality is far from that. While the game doesn't look bad, it's a far more removed game focusing more on managing your land and population over intimate mining and charging into battle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dERkLDCk8-8 -
16.
Guns of Glory is another building expansion game, where you grow and run your 'empire'. As per-usual the misleading art would have you there is more than just building, but there's not. -
17.
Idle Heroes is, again, a pretty nice game when you get to play it. It's a Gacha RPG that focuses on drawing in players with cute new characters. However, its advertisements are frankly absurd. On top of having tons of strange CG models that do not appear in-game, many of the ads do not show you the actual gameplay of said game. Many emphasize the "sex appeal" of its female cast, which is...odd, considering how lifeless several of the advertisement models appear. There is even a surreal "apology" ad for the game featuring no in-game assets at all. Idle Heroes has some good content in their mobile game. It's bizarre how they just choose not to show you any of it in the adverts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5wPFJj86LU -
18.
Idle Heroes is last because while it does leave us wanting it more, it does offer a much better experience than the other fourteen games on this list. At least there aren't any jewels, right?
- REPLAY GALLERY
- 10 Advertisements for Mobile Games That Are Straight up Lies
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