Empires & Puzzles: Match 3 RPG Reviews

by E&P's

Been playing for years. Not a bad game and can be fun. Like so many others, eventually spent a little here and there to get better. Then spent more to get competitive. Then a lot more to be the best. So why the bad review? Because the developers refuse to make simple changes to improve the game and are now making huge changes that undo months and sometimes years worth of time, effort and money. It’s like spending and working on building a house only to be told after it’s done that a law is now passed making it illegal for people to live in houses. Sounds crazy, but that’s what you are dealing with here. You get suckered into spending money. Also, they now list odd for the paid gambling to get certain heroes - but the odds are complete bs and the outcomes are fixed. Nowhere else in life will you find the daily defiance of the odds to the extent of this ridiculousness. For example, the odds of getting something good (when you pay) may be listed at 30%. Yet you can go for it 20 times in a row and not get it even once. That’s a 1000 to 1 chance. Yet you will see this kind of thing over and over. And the odds of something bad may be 30% yet you will see it happen a 9 times in a row over and over. That’s a 1 in 50,000 chance. This game had a chance to be great and to be honest. It’s neither. Best to just stay away from this money pit.

by Varadax

This game was great when it came out. But they keep introducing newer more powerful characters which your best chance to get is based on $$$ spent to increases random chance. So the game is rapidly being ruled by op characters where the average player it spending piles of money gets screwed. They also play around with odds on the shields. If you have two of five of same color the odds of that color appearing go down! This has been proven by players tracking the screens over and over yet they deny it occurs even if such “bad luck” happens to encourage you to use items which again you can buy! They care only about the next dollar not game balance so save your money. Also note every critical review gets the same packaged its free to play we offer items for those wanting a faster pace. IE .. pay to win. Since raids on others and war with others is part of the game those paying through the nisr for a faster pace slaughter the non payers and you get far less rewards than they do. Its not equal chance when those spending piles of cash can dominate player interactions. And if you choose not to participate in that well you are penalized with even less rewards and even slower growth. So its stand there and be beat by those spending money to get something or don’t join and slough on slowly ohhhh so slowly to advance. Nice choice

by Kilo-g13

To new players who will end up being suckers and spending money on a off chance you might, just mighty be lucky enough to get what you so desperately need for you to win just a bit more.....
DON’T!! DON’T FALL FOR THIER
TRICKS!!!
There’s is nothing I can not stand more than a app like this who tempts poor unsuspecting sheep into slaughter giving up their hard earned money or allowance money for no and I mean NO GAIN! When you see other players with all the “top stuff” it is usually the game developers, betas or a friend of EmpiresPuzzles makers or they are fools and spent hundreds or sadly thousands $$$ so they will have all the stuff you dream about, that YOU will never be able to have! You’ll spend a small amount an might get a lil better then you will say yes i might be lucky and spend more and then before you know it you’ll be so deep in a hole with absolutely NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT! It’s so disgusting of these type of game developers! They are no different than a casino a scratch off addiction and the drug dealer down the block getting you hooked so you’ll spend more! I’ve worked with people like this that make apps like this and that’s the reason why I don’t anymore! There are better ways to make big bucks on EmpiresPuzzles but to take millions from poor unsuspecting sheep is gross! Please players spend your money elsewhere or save it or don’t listen to me but don’t say you were never warned!

by Snakebite1965

The game is pretty good for the exception of the match making for the raids which is grossly unbalanced. Time and time again I save up food for days to roll to match up for a PVP Raid battle and it consistently matches me up against other players that are miles above my Rank, level and team power. You can literally burn through days of food to only be matched up against a team you clearly can't beat and if you do you lose about 4 times the amount of Trophy's you would have won which makes no sense. Although the game pretty cool I am finding the raids extremely frustrating and not wanting to play much anymore. This should be fixed and you should be matched up against others that are your level not 10 to 20 levels above you, that's no match it's a slaughter. I am done and deleting this game. I don't mind the grind and work just don't appreciate a few things like grinding for 4 weeks to get to level 21 and coming on and being squashed by a level 12 that paid to get high level hero's and troops and did no work. I also know that the match making system is broken and you will waste 400kfood just to get matched against 3 or 4 players close to your level. I can no longer invest time in a broken game system that is unfair. There is no return for your efforts unless you pay to play and that is no achievement.

by Adam Sessler

P&E is fun & addictive, but is ABSOLUTELY pay-to-win. You can’t be a good team w/o having 5-star heroes on your roster, & it’s virtually impossible to get a single 5-star w/o paying. Anyone who has more than 1 or 2 5-star heroes in their deck has spent hundreds of dollars on this game. The top teams who have their entire deck stacked w/ 5-star heroes have undoubtedly spent over a thousand dollars. People may go into the game thinking they can just grind & get 5-star heroes slowly & patiently. It doesn’t happen. Earning gems w/o buying packs are too slow; you will legitimately spend a month to earn enough gem to summon 1 hero, & get a 3-star. You have save & grind for several months to earn enough gems to draw 10 at a time, & you will only gets 3 or 4 star heroes. Realistically, the only way to get a 5-star is to do a 3 or 4 10-draws in a row, & earning enough gems to do that many 10-draws will take months, if not a year of grinding. The other way to get a 5-star hero thru a level 20 Training Center. Well, it takes months to build a level 20 TC, & once you have it, it takes a lot of resources & 2 full days to try to train a 5-star, but even then the drop rates for 5-stars from a TC is basically non-existent. A guy on my team in this game was keeping a tally of how many heroes he was getting from his TCs, & he had done over 70 by last count & gotten only 3 & 4-stars. That’s literally months of effort for squat.

by Poo Flinger Jr

I started the game 2 years ago with the intention of keeping it free to play (f2p) but that quickly changed. After stumbling upon an active alliance, I was pressured to advance faster. Player issue, not a game issue for certain. Except that part of advancing faster means better heroes, and better troops, and more mats, and the fastest way to get there is to purchase and spend gems. So I spent the better part of a year spending pretty freely. Again, player issue. But I dialed it back for a bit. And then started spending again after listening to the buzz from teammates and the forum. It really is set up to generate peer pressure to keep up.

And then 2020 happened. Major nerfs to heroes that many chased and attained. And more nerfs to the same heroes. But then more powerful heroes are released. And yup, after a few months of monetary gain from players chasing to keep up with their peers, those heroes are nerfed. On the same day the devs announce that some of the most powerful and sought after heroes will be getting boost, as long as you can summon their proposed costume.

That was the last straw. I fed my top heroes to the worst available that I had and removed the game from my phone. You might think that this is my personal issue but I’m not the only one. Many players are leaving the game. Feel free to join but know that the developers are preying on your competitive nature with an eye on your wallet at all times.

by AKSLIMSHADY

Seriously, eff this game. So many popups from within EmpiresPuzzles , not even external ads, make the game borderline unplayable especially right after you open it. $30 sale here, $20 sale there, and they pop up right as you exit out of other windows, but they put the “purchase” button right by the exit button so it’s easy to accidentally buy in-game currency, “gems,” which you need an astronomical amount of to do anything. Expect to pay about $70 in real U.S. dollars PER HERO to level them up to max lvl. Also, the Raids option is absolute BS, automated teams deal twice to 4x as much damage as your own with no chance to parry/block attacks. You maybe get 3-4 turns to beat an opponents team before you’re dead, because their automated dmg is 3x as potent as yours. Titans are ridiculously hard to defeat especially by small alliances, the developers beg for and all but steal your money constantly, they keep saying “we fixed Raids to make them more fair” which really means “we made them even harder because %$&@ you, AND we gave bots and spoofers extra damage and defense.” I want to drive to the developers’ studio and shove Colen’s fire axe where the sun don’t shine, this game had such potential and it just does not deliver. Money-grubbing, cheesy, extremely difficult without pay-to-play, unless you want to throw your phone out of sheer frustration and then ragequit like the weeb you are then don’t download this game.

by Walker Bait 3xp

I’d give it 4 or even 5 stars, the graphics & game play are really good, but I have an issue with the drop rates of the items you need to level up your legendary hero’s. It’s almost non existent. Even if you spend the money on the “special” promos you don’t get the items you need to level up past 70. Example: I’ve needed spy glasses to level up one of my legendary heroes. I’ve got 3......in almost 6 months of daily playing. 3. I’ve needed shields for 2 of my other hero’s for just as long. 6 months and I still can’t get the needed ingredients to level anyone up. Also the drop rates for legendary characters is very low to begin with, so when you’re fortunate enough to get one you want to level them up. A lot of players drop out due to this frustration. Really need to look at these drop rates as it turns a fun game into a grind & then it’s no fun.
Update: our group was chatting about this and our group leader has had 5 hero’s that he hasn’t been able to level up after over 500 days & a lot of money spent. All of them ice hero’s. Since my review I came back to drop it to 1 star. The drop rates have gotten worse. You pretty much have to spend big money in order to level up legendary hero’s. Our group has been slowly disintegrating due to this. So if you play be warned, you won’t ever get anywhere without spending a ton of money & then still sit there with hero’s not playable. Congrats to the developers on making a money tree.

by Al1223

A needlessly elaborate schematic designed to confuse you into thinking you can play for free. Quickly gets too hard to do so. But more than the standard and expected money grab is the baffling added difficulty thrown at you to actually *play* the basic puzzle game. Upgrade a web of buildings in a long linear series to Recruit heroes to train heroes up levels to ascend heroes of five different types. With taking days to move each step. Why stop your gamers from playing? 1 star not for the money grab but the inane thoughts in the "boardroom" that this style of play is likeable by those that play puzzle matching games.

Speaking of money grabs though. This developers here are masterclass. You can (and will) pay hundreds of dollars (I have spent close to 1000 on this game) buying *chances* to get what you need. And the chances are (not surprisingly) near zero. Exact chances? Guess. And you won’t have to guess who figured out that in their boardroom? You will be laughed at in that boardroom. Key items are kept from you from fully ascending you heroes though which can’t be bought. Ascending them *if* you get lucky and pay money is amazingly difficult at higher levels with months of grinding (during which time you will be spending more money). Honestly this game makes you wonder why anyone would deal illegal drugs. Here the developers have found something more profitable, zero material cost and somehow legal.

by Worship Junky

I would give this game a higher rating. There’s so many good things about the game play and different ways to play. I’ve played it everyday since November 2018. I’m embarrassed to say how much I have spent on gems, but I added it up $5,200. I went from rarely spending on a game to overspending small buys at a time. Most purchases were under $30. I don’t mind spending money to get what I need. But I don’t like to gamble. In other games you spend money on gems and buy the hammer you want. Here you buy gems with a 1-3% chance to get that hammer. In this case a particular hero. At the height of my spending I spent over $600 trying to get a particular hero and didn’t even get it. I’m so far invested in the game, it’s hard to walk away. If I had it to do over I would not download this game. My opinion further degraded over recent decisions the developers made. We don’t have any rights after spending money time and resources on our teams. They can just change the hero at will. There’s many simple things they could do to make the game less like gambling. If the priced a hero at $200 and you knew you could get it for the money or you could pull for it at the summon gate that would be great. If they stopped messing with heroes after they’re released. Again simple fix that costs them nothing. I’ve tried to stop spending, but it’s harder than going vegan. I have to stop playing. $5,200 worth small buys is out of control. Don’t start playing.

by Melfruit

This is the only game I have that I frequently consider deleting. I’ve been playing for a long time and I’m tired of the problems. I can’t believe the company cares so little about its customers that they won’t fix long-standing common complaints. If you think you can relax with this game, think again. The playing field is horribly tilted against you, leading to vast amounts of frustration. It doesn’t matter how good of a team you build, you’ll be dealt awful boards that guarantee your loss before you even make a move. This happens a LOT. The raid system sets you up for failure and the numbers they give for you to use to gauge your opponent’s power is not actually helpful. Teams rated significantly weaker than yours will annihilate you. Frequently. Also, once you manage to get one of the awesome top tier heroes, it can take a year to collect the excessively rare items you need to level them fully. That is, unless you’re willing to pay obscene amounts of money. Then it only takes maybe 6 months. This game does start out fun, has a ton of heroes & events, and continues to add new content, but it gets to be very frustrating before long. Until they finally address these issues, save yourself the trouble. Don’t play.

by Ashfoot01

Now, don’t get me wrong; I really do like this game. I enjoy the story behind it, the game is including while using strategy, and also has an option where the game plays for you. The heroes are clearly thought through, and each design is unique to the type of hero and the way they play their role in the game. The play is smooth, with little to no lag. However, not every diamond is cut perfectly. During the game, whenever a move is played on an enemy, the hits have a chance of missing the target. No big deal, that’s to be expected in a game like this. However, my last plays of recent levels (and this may just be me not quite being far enough into the game yet to get past this) have shown that the moves I play tend to miss the enemies on almost every hit without fail. The enemies, on the other hand, whether NPC or player, have a much higher chance of actually hitting their chosen targets. Again, this may just be a problem with my game or something that is just unlucky for me. This is my only real problem with this game, though. Gameplay is relaxing and fun, and the occasional Titan that pops up is fun to engage with your teammates. A very well thought through RPG, and certainly one to be respected for the work and creativity put into it.

by Extra South Park

I’ve never put money towards a game ever in my life. Empires & Puzzles is the only game I’ve enjoyed playing. I admire the different deals you guys do with obtaining more gems. However, there are minor things that can be modified to make my rating jump to 5 stars. I just feel like you should be able to upgrade multiple buildings at once. Waiting 2 days for one building to finish is ridiculous. Either upgrading multiple buildings at once or changing the time frame would be suitable. Then, there’s the troops that can’t be upgraded. What’s the point in having all the same troops if I can’t add them to one another. I have 1 star troops just sitting there for no reason. I’m given literally the same troops every random draw. The algorithm for that should be fixed to where it’s not so rare to get 4 or 5 star troops/ heros. And if there is a button to level up your troops then that should be more apparent. Instead of searching high and low to figure out if it’s possible to do so. Also, how are you supposed to use the emblems without any since of direction? I’m over here stuck with 41 of the same emblem because I don’t know when I can use it nor how I can. Other than that, I really do enjoy the game but it would be better if my suggestions were carefully thought out.

by ItalStalNickyG

I love this game. Been playing it for over a year now every day. Very enjoyable and lots to do the more you move up the levels. The only thing i would suggest is not to spend a dime on this game. You’re better off just waiting and saving up your diamonds to buy better characters. Don’t waste your money because they’re just going to give you the same duplicate characters that you get from saving up your diamonds. Would be nice if there was a bigger chance to get decent cards when you’re investing real money. I’ve invested a bit into the game and so far have not received so much as even one decent card from my investments. I literally just keep getting duplicates of the cards that I already have that are three stars and four stars. You’re better off saving your money and just taking your time to find decent characters cards. My daughter plays this as well and she is in her first month and has already received a five star character from spending her diamonds that she saved up. You may think that investing your money will earn you better cards faster but it just spends your money faster. Over a year of playtime and I still don’t have a five star card. Just isn’t fair!

by Billy Digital

Been playing this game for about a year now. Partly because I’ve made some great friends in my alliance I’ve been a daily player. The game itself is a clever combination of elements built around a core match 3 setup. The defining gameplay feature centers on the placement of your matches on the board dictate what enemy you hit, it opens up a depth of strategy and fun not found in other rpg/match 3 mashups. As others have noted it is a looong term game. As far as requiring money to advance, It certainly helps, but there are many high level players in our alliance that have spent $0-$20 over a year span. Most frustrating element is drop rates on items needed to ascend your 5* heroes. Honestly if you play a lot you will be able to pick up the items you need to ascend 4* heroes regularly, but those dang top end materials are few and far between. It took me 10 months to get enough materials to max my first 5* hero. This game is a grind, the greed of developers can be a bit offensive, but the irony of spending money on gems to get better heroes is the better heroes are worthless until you play the game enough to get the items needed to make them stronger so it is really counterproductive to your game to do so. Better off being patient, finding a good alliance and letting your team grow organically.

by DDRGuitar

I’ve played this game for over 3 years, during which time I’ve invested a modest amount of money and a significant amount of time in my little digital kingdom and beloved heroes. This review is from a place of significant experience and fondness, but also objective honesty.

The world of mobile games is dominated by match 3 puzzles for a reason. They are quick and intuitive, they are shiny and addictive. This game is no different but incorporates an expansive campaign and hero mechanics system that puts it into the realm of some of the best mobile RPGs. The developers regularly feed EmpiresPuzzles new content, and the global player base is generally very healthy (my own alliance is made up of polite supportive strangers). These elements all make for a finely tuned game that is easy to pick up and stays fun and competitive at even the highest levels of play.

As with any mobile game, there are issues in Empires: annoying pop up ads, mind-numbing resource farming, an abysmally slow building upgrade system, overtly sexist female characters/avatars, and the pay to win factor here is significant, but Empires can be fun as a 100% free game as well. I have friends with a few less heroes on their rosters, but healthier bank accounts. Overall the game is great, assuming your patience and resilience is as well.

by Ryno1000

Like most games it can be free to play as long as you plan on playing for years to catch up to compete with the big boys although in saying that there is always people your level to compete with. You can easily spend a load of money to have the latest and greatest heroes. Saving 8000 ($80 worth) for a 30 hero pull does not guarantee you will get anything good. Most of all. The game is based around your ranking which is determined by the number of cups you gain in raids. Saying that. It would be great if they weren’t overly lopsided. You get daily tasks to defeat heroes in raids and as a reward you get food iron even gems key thing here being gems. They can’t give them away easily. You can basically determine if you have a chance or not by looking at the gems before you move them. Even if you greatly over powered your opponent. That doesn’t guarantee you a win. Especially if you need the win to collect those free gems. Overall a fun game. Just a lot of unfair moments and if anyone else out there like myself just wants to play a fair game. Then I don’t suggest this. An inexpensive game. I don’t suggest this. Meeting good people and working as a team. I suggest this game.

by Helen Sendein

I don’t know. We are a group of 7 people. I must spend some money sometime. However, my friends doesn’t. They are poor, so They save a lot of gems for fortune. Until now they are at level 28, they are still bad luck and didn’t get any 5 heros. Even if you have 5 stars hero. You still need to wait a long time to find the items to update your heros. My clan members just told me... He just got the last ring that he needs since almost 2 years... We lost titan, war by weird matching. I am scared. Today My friends tell me they will quit the game. They told me :” It is so expensive, nonsense, unreasonable waiting for a really good game.” Im sad. I think if they quit, I will quit too. I dont know how to play game alone without my friends. This game used to give a really great memories. Update: I think I did my review for over 5 months until you guys responded. :-/ . The game is getting better than before a lot. After a year playing the game, My group is now only have 2 left. They all give up on the game because of bad luck with summons and collecting items to max training for 5 stars heroes ( 7 members before). They got frustrated and mad then left. I was sad cause all my best friends are left. However the game already got better by adding some good quests before they left. ( still so long but better than nothing). I want to play a game for long term even without my friends. My new friends from my alliance are amazing.

by Tym D.

I kept seeing ads for this game and at first I was annoyed and closed it because I wanted to go back to playing the Blackjack game which showed me this ad. Then it kept popping up and I finally interacted with it and fell into its trap. It’s a well designed game with beautiful graphics and elements of RPG and strategy that I enjoy with humor thrown in. The menu is easy and fun to interact with. It’s a game that requires patience and does not require you to spend real money to advance, although it does help but absolutely not required. I like the challenge of spending as little resource as possible to grow your empire. It’s a fun challenge to figure out what to upgrade and the order that needs to happen. I normally hate seeing ads but this game has cleverly weaved it into its gameplay that makes me look forward to seeing the ads. The only thing I hate about the game is the raids but overall it’s fun and addictive. And there’s a good chance I’ll splurge in the future and spend real money to support this company and developers for creating such an amazing game. It’s been a while since a game has caught and held my attention and makes me want to play it. Well done!

by SandSprite

Well there is, but when you reach it you still have things you can do. If it gets boring it means your alliance isn’t a committed one (leave and find a new one!) and you haven’t figured out how to make weaker (epic) heroes work as well as the super strong (legendary) ones. Which is possible.

Definitely a game for the long term. I downloaded just because an Interactive app looked cool and I’ve been playing for almost a year it seems!

tip: the game & team building is far more fun if you DO NOT drop cash. Atleast early on! You’ll be missing out on the early-type of fun of the game if you care about climbing the ranks and storing rare items too quickly. Don’t get fustrated with losses, just have fun! Level up atleast 2 heroes of every color that are 3 star heroes before moving on to 4 star heroes. Repeat the process with 4 star heroes before moving on to ANY 5 star heroes. 5 star heroes are of little to no value for younglings because the amount of resources and items you need to invest in leveling them up exceeds their value. You could have 4, 3 star heroes or 2, 4 star heroes done before your at the 5 star hero’s last level! As you level up, resources come quicker.

by Howi--thelions.den

I just wanted to add my 2 certs here. There are so many people that are writing reviews and complaining about HAVING to spend money in order to advance your 4 and 5* heroes in this game. Maybe if you want to ascend them rapidly but if you want to actually get into the game then spending cash is not really needed. I've been playing this game for around 2 years now and i am a member in a fantastic alliance who plays together for FUN. Granted I do have a hero that I got in Feb of 2018 as my monthly free luck of the draw and haven't been able to fully ascend and for the longest time I wasn't having any luck with lvl 20 training and then BOOM I started getting 5* heroes from training alone. Multiple heroes. And I've been able to ascend them pretty rapidly. Would I like to see some ascension items easier to obtain for everyone, absolutely! Would I like to see it not cost as much for certain things like upgrading buildings or research? Sure. But I get it and I still enjoy the game and I will continue to play the game. As for the "pop-ups" that appear....those are just letting you know what's being offered in the game. Close them out and start playing. It's that simple. The BIGGEST THING ME AND MY ALLIANCE ARE HOPING FOR AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE IS INTER ALLIANCE TRADING!!that would be fantastic. Other than that keep up the excellent work. Empires and puzzles is a great mobile game.

by Slawguhy

The reviews on here that state you have to “pay to win” and “never guaranteed you do win when you spend x amount” are Bogus claims. Playing this game is a marathon, not a dAsh to the finish. It’s team building; material farming adventure that takes months to get every character and item your so desperately wanting. The Months it takes to lever characters, upgrade buildings, play through the story and quests takes time and patience. You can spend money to get the things your so desperately wanting now with odd/chances against you OR you can just play the game and wait for the quest and tournaments to give you the items your wanting(takes time)
What your goals in the gameplay can also differ. So any reviews telling you about bad character/teams or not getting them. Those people know they spend money with odd slim and change with every season. and spending money is no guarantee to any item due to the lottery/change type of buying. They tell you the % of chance to get certain items/
If your looking for a game you can dig into, put in the time needed to make it the team and build it have patience because they give you gem to spend, they give you many items to build you characters. Give this game the your time it deserves before giving it a review.
**Happy Adventures
Slawguhy