Original Release: FunCraft Games, 2024, Android/iOS
An adaptation of the Yahtzee-like traditional dice game that adds leaderboard features and bonuses like personalized dice, but any claims of it being “PvP” are a little spurious
Farkle (Android, FunCraft, 2024)
Where to Buy: Freemium via Google Play Store (ad-supported, $10 for ad-free version)
How to Emulate: Android Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
Farkle is a “poker dice” game somewhat similar to Yahtzee, but with simpler rules. Two players alternate rolling six die each turn and can make poker hands out of them (like 3OAKs or 4OAK with a pair), and fives and ones provide a minimal score on their own and allow you to continue rolling in the present turn. After each roll you can choose to set aside the scoring die and take the points, or re-roll whichever die you want. But if a roll comes up without at least a five or one to provide some kind of score, you “farkle out” and lose any points you built up on the whole turn to that point.
The game’s execution is simple, you play against other players avatars who are actually computer-controlled. So if anyone challenges and beats you, you’ll never even know about it. Any win streaks you build and leaderboard/competition points are only in terms of games that you initiate, I don’t see any option for people on the app to actually play each other in real time.
That limitation aside (along with no offline play), this would be a simple and reasonably well-done time passer except for one thing: the level of “freemium” ads is so obnoxious it makes it almost unplayable. The first time you boot up the app, there are hardly any. From then on, they’re literally almost every hand, sometimes once a hand in some games (despite there also being a banner ad omnipresent at the top of the app). It’s all typical mobile game video ads, and some are painfully slow to go through their whole progression.
There is a way around this, ads can be removed for a one-time fee of $10 USD. I feel like that’s a questionable proposition given you don’t seem to get any offline play at all, it’s strictly a ransom payment to stop the unbearable amount of ads. But it may be worth it to you if you’re doing it for one of those GP2 “offerwall” sites as it might significantly speed up the grind of reaching new levels (I didn’t try it personally). You get a mere 2 XP for matches lost or 5 XP for matches won, with the initial levels taking 100 XP then rising to 200 XP and beyond after a few. But there are a lot of “achievements” that grant anywhere from 10 to 100 XP instantly when hit, like getting 4OAKs a few times or just watching 50 ads.
Links
– If you’re playing this for a “get paid to” (GP2) site, I’d suggest just quitting after level 12 and taking whatever few bucks that’s worth. From that point the experience requirements for leveling up make it too much of a grind to be worth the time. In the early going the best way to level up is to stay on top of unlocking new dice with coins, which in turn usually provides big chains of EXP boosts. Don’t bother with the “ticket” bonus challenges, the computer BLATANTLY cheats in these every single time. If you get money for watching ads, double-dip by setting aside some time to do that in the background while grinding the bonus gem offers that appear with every hand, then use that pile of gems exclusively for re-rolls to shoot for the experience bonuses for getting “X” amount of high-value hands.
Videos