Fun, but frustrating at times. – Topps® WWE SLAM: Card Trader Review

Reviewing for version 9.0.17. The new update just went live, and it’s prompted me to leave a review. Cons: 1. The new graphics such as on the home screen are nice, but I made mention in a comment on the app that the minimalism of the previous versions was one of the things I appreciated most about this app, especially because it was kind to my battery. Now there’s a lot of unnecessary transition screens and flashing lights; it means I have to spend extra time waiting for the screen to transition through to the next menu. This is, to be honest, quite frustrating. With the old versions I could have switched between three or four screens in the time it takes the transitions to load, and the flashing image isn’t easy on the eyes (or the battery). And since I usually use the app when I’m limited on time, it means I end up spending less time on the app, both through less navigation (because it takes more time) and because I’m frustrated waiting, so I don’t WANT to spend more time on the app. An option to disable these transition screens and/or flashing lights would be most appreciated. 2. The achievements/collections are still bugged. I’ve completed several open edition sets and they’re still sitting in the “close to completing” section rather than actually rewarding me for completing the collection. 3. A lot of menu options are now hidden away in places that don’t always seem the most obvious (though this might just be something I have to acclimate to). I imagine that I’ll get used to the new positions of all the different pages, but in the meantime I’ll keep clicking on the trade button expecting my page instead. It also seems like some links are designed for users on devices with extra large screens; I thankfully have narrow fingers to click on tiny links next to each other, but I imagine it might be causing some users some frustration on smaller screens. 4. Some of the text boxes (like the ones for comments on an article) keep freezing and won’t let me back in to edit the text once I’ve closed the keyboard, which means I have to close the box and retype the comment. Pros: 1. The favorites card selection. I usually just used the locking tool to show off my favorite, but displaying favorite cards on my page does give it a unique feel, like a happy wallpaper every time I open that page. Sometimes I forget I have some really awesome cards, so this helps remind me why I’m playing the game. 2. The color scheme is also well done. Some apps and websites have no sense of color design, but this one has a variety of darker colors that don’t burn my eyes. 3. No ads. This game is one of the very few I play that actually doesn’t have ads, and best of all, there’s no pop-up ads. Another game I play recently implemented this, and it’s frustrating to have an ad suddenly show up in the middle of the game, and typically, it forces you to click the ad because you were about to click something else in the game. This game has no ads, likely because a large amount of pay-to-buy content (though there’s a good amount of cards that can be obtained with in-game currency as well). If that’s how we avoid ads, I’m okay with that. 4. Wide selection of cards. There’s a plethora of cards to collect in the game, and while a lot of them are pay-to-buy, if you’re clever with how you build up your card collection, you can usually trade for some of them. There is a certain bias in which superstars have cards put out, but considering that there’s likely a bigger fan base for the main event stars, it makes sense to put out more cards of those stars. Overall: My main thing is that I’m frustrated with the updates; it seems like case of fixing what isn’t broken (and I’ve seen websites collapse/become abandoned because of things like this). I’m not going to abandon the app at the moment because it has been one of my most-used apps for a while now, and I love collecting cards of my favorite WWE stars, but we’ll see what the future holds. If you’re a fan, I’d still recommend the app; it’s still good, harmless fun, despite my complaining. If you’re a developer, thank you for taking time to look over my thoughts on the app.
Review by V. Stark on Topps® WWE SLAM: Card Trader.