I want to give five stars. – Punch Quest Review

It’s my most-played mobile game, and I love it. But it gave me the impression that by tipping the developer a dollar (through the in-game “store”) that I could remove ads. Not so. It appears you actually have to exchange money for in-game currency to disable ads. Here’s the swindle: When you go into the options menu and tap “ads: enabled,” the game tells you that you can buy “any of PUNCH QUEST’S in-app purchases” to disable ads. The game then invites you to tap thru to the store. The cheapest of the items available there is a $0.99 “tip” for the developers —with the flavor text, “Like the game but don’t want to buy coins? Tip us a dollar instead!” Now of course, they distinguished this “tip” from a “purchase,” and if I had been a more careful buyer, I might have hesitated to classify the $0.99 option as one of “PUNCH QUEST’S in-app purchases.” Then again, the “tip” was in the store to which the drill-down in the options menu led me. Why include it there if it’s not one of “PUNCH QUEST’S in-app purchases?” The amount of money involved is trivial, but I’m leaving the one star to reflect the sting of disappointment I felt when an otherwise open and honest game that I love (and in which micro transactions and ads aren’t disruptive in any meaningful way) hustled me. If it’s “caveat emptor,” then I say let the developer beware of slick sales tactics before shopping for five stars at my boutique. TL;DR, paid a dollar, still can’t turn ads off. Leaving the one star until I get my dollar back. Will make a different purchase in the in-app store upon refund of the “tip” I left.
Review by TheKingOfFuzz on Punch Quest.