Almost amazing – Gallery: Coloring Book & Decor Review

My biggest complaint with this game is that starting with a full 100 energy, you can only do 2 paintings, maybe 3 if you're lucky and the energy cost is low enough that the +20 energy from watching an ad will get you enough. While there is additional premium artwork that you can purchase with real money but costs no energy, the other problem I have is that you don't regain any energy while painting. So even if I did pick up a premium pack in order to be able to paint more, I can't then use those to waste time while waiting for more energy. The second problem with this is that most actions cost 3-4 stars, so the actual progress with decorating the house is so... excruciatingly... slow... and infuriating. That said, the artwork in the game is all stunning. There's a wide variety of realism and surrealism, and they're all incredibly well crafted, with beautiful color composition. There is a moderately diverse representation of skin tones when the art features people, which is nice to see, although I would always love to see more, particularly when it comes to Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous people. The actual process of coloring in this game is one of the best experiences I have had in a color-by-numbers game. The animation when filling in a shape is oddly very satisfying. And the single best thing this game does is selecting the next color automatically when the color you have selected has been completed. That's the one feature I've been sorely missing when I color in other apps. The game offers very smart and useful power-ups, and has found an excellent balance between generous enough that you're able to accumulate them without having to watch a bunch of ads or pay a bunch of money, but sparing enough that I'm very conservative in how I use them, because I want to make sure I have them when I need them. Also, a quick suggestion: I really wish that there was some sort of option where you could look at and replay previous paintings, as well as an option to choose which paintings are shown in the house and in the gallery. Overall, I really do enjoy the experience of coloring in this app, as well as the interior decorating aspect, and I'm happy to support the app by playing, and occasionally tossing a few dollars at it. But I feel like that enjoyment winds up being artificially limited or slowed down by the energy and star costs.
Review by ghostwriter93 on Gallery: Coloring Book & Decor.