Bricks n Balls Reviews

As far as the actual game goes, I love it. There are great boosts and it is, of course, a satisfying game to play while you watch all the blocks get decimated. That said, it could use some technical improvements.

I am no stranger to free games and the ads they frequently force you to watch every couple rounds. Typically I have seen these ads be 5 to 10 seconds in length or click out immediately. I don’t mind ads- Ive found a lot of games I like through them and Usually I don’t get stuck watching the 30 second ads unless I choose to in order to gain some extra points or prize. In this game, almost every single ad is 30 seconds long and they make you watch one after every round. I wind up spending more time watching ads than playing the game. It would be nice if they could shorten the ads if they are going to require you to watch one in order to play each level.

The bigger issue was that I did not even get to have this game on my phone for 24 hours before it started having major issues and kept restarting on me. For the last few hours I have gotten an error message that says “Data verification error, game will begin to synchronize the data and be restarted (1).” Every time the game restarts the message comes up again and I have not been able to play anymore levels. I have restarted my phone several times and cannot seem to remedy the issue so I guess I am just going to have to delete the game.

So, it’s annoying that you have to watch an add between every single time you play in order to continue, or you have to close out the game and reopen to avoid adds. Sometimes you have to watch an add to revive, ok, maybe, but then you have to use rubies to do the same a second time around. Ok, could live with that, but every time you open the game they offer you your subscription price to play without adds, a once a week subscription which would end up costing the player like $30 something a month or around $360 a year? Seriously that’s more than my gas bill or electric bill. It’s more than cable TV. There have been a few things I felt were worth paying a one time fee to open up, but this cost is ridiculous. That’s a car payment.

The game itself wasn’t bad because there is a modicum of skill involved, however when you progress up into the 300s then it becomes impossible to complete a level without extra helps. And of course when you use those up you can pay more money to buy more rubies so you can get more helps. I hate that! And the final thing I hate is their piggy bank. You win levels and your rubies go into a bank you have to pay money to open.

I get these game manufacturers need to make money somehow, but I know when to delete a game. When they take away the skill factor and make you pay to play, it’s time to move on.

The game itself is fun and appealing with some clever variations on the classic bricks concept, but I’m going to have to give it up. You’re endlessly hit with ads. I have no idea what the daily freebie plays you earn everyday do and there is absolutely no explanation available anywhere in BricksnBalls or even online - I checked. There is a star bar but you never seem to accumulate rubies when you pass the level - is this a bug? Some levels are truly impossible to pass without using rubies (or the mystery elements, whatever they do) and the rubies are too hard to come by. You could opt to watch even MORE ads to earn 150 rubies a day, but I came to play a game not pound myself with commercials during my game time. I bet if you actually won rubies by passing levels, as the layout suggests you’re supposed to, this game would be much more fun. I have played every day for a month; you’d think I could have saved up for one custom ball by now, but no. I have never accumulated more than 500 rubies because it costs 200 to continue on a level the first time and 300 the second. If you have to use rubies to pass levels, you’ll never get to the 1000 needed to buy a different ball. All of this means it’s now getting boring to play and the frustrations have added up to make me deem BricksnBalls unplayable. Too bad.

On its surface, this is a fun little game that I could see myself losing hours just getting absorbed into this. But in actuality, I only play it for small bursts. Why? The ads. I understand they need to make money, and the ads pay for it, but when you get one for whatever you do, some of them being 30 seconds long and unskippable, it's annoying fast. Failed a board? See an ad. Go to the home menu? See an ad.

This alone would be annoying, but add in broken mechanics, and it reaches a whole new level. I didn't hit a major wall until around level 120, at which point, you find yourself needing about 500 gems just to clear the board. (Too many low blocks with high values, and nothing to ricochet the balls off of.) Add to this, the boards themselves are very stingy at giving credit toward the 50 (or 100) gem thresholds. 100-Ball seems to be the best place to grow the bar (since it has a fast ad delivery system), but more often than not, if I hit replay, the ball starts out-of-bounds, meaning you hit no blocks, no points, but you will get another ad. There is no reason to start the ball there- this is clearly a design flaw.

If it weren't for the flaws, I'd consider buying the no-ad add-on, but as things are now, I can't in good conscious recommend paying any money toward this.

It’s over all a great idea, but- I’m constantly hit with adds😩, and there seems to be multiple bugs in the game. I would have loved ❤️to continue playing this game, but , well, when I go to play a game, I’m not looking for a game that constantly pops up with adds. Especially when the adds go on and on , and there are 30 second ones more frequently then with other apps. Lots of adds usually have a little “ x “ at the top to tap out, but with these ones, you have watch the whole thing!!!!😢 I would love to continue playing this game, as soon as the adds pop up less frequently. And yes , your saying:” why don’t you just pay to not have adds” well, I don’t want to have to pay , if I can just go play something else, because there are many other games like this, which is another reason... I don’t know who came up with this idea for a game, but there seems to be so many games like this , such as ballz ect... it’s kind of annoying!!
I don’t know if it’s my phone , or what, but it’s also kind of hard to move the dotted line ( the thing to aim) it’s so fidgety! It also sometimes gets on my nerves... Maybe it’s just me , but , I love the other games ( ballz...) so much more. I really recommend those ones. I don’t really recommend this one in particular.

I have played this game ever since it has come out. I purchased the no ad thing even though it still has plenty of ads. I get that it’s how you make your money. My problem isn’t with the ads, it with poor customer service. There is a mystery button at the bottom of the screen that I still don’t know what it does. It cost 200 rubies to hit it and I have done it numerous times by accident. It’s the only one you can use while the game is actively in play. I would guess I have hit it by accident at least 50 times over the years I have played this game and I decided to finally ask what this button does. The answer I got was that they try to make it small enough for it not to happen. I wrote back and the answer I got was thank you for your feed back. I still don’t know what it does and I don’t really care anymore.
The answer I should have gotten should have been “I am sorry for the problem. This button does(whatever it does) and here are a couple of hundred rubies to make up for it.”I was not looking for freebies, just a explanation of what it does and a little compassion to make me feel like I matter. For this reason I will be deleteing this game and will find one just like it to play.

This is a fun game. At first the levels are really easy but they get slightly harder as you progress. I think a multiplayer game mode would be cool to have on this. You could probably make it so the same level generates on both players screens and whoever gets the most points wins. I also like the designs that are in some of the levels. The only problem with this game are the constant bombings that are dropped upon me while I’m trying to play. What I mean is the game has too much ads. This is why I removed a star on the review. Also, for any players reading this, if you turn off your WiFi you won’t get ads. One more thing. This hasn’t happened to me but I’ve read two reviews with players complaining about getting charged for the game even though it’s free and they haven’t gotten their money back. Thats not very nice and probably illegal somehow, or maybe they just bought something by accident. Who knows. Once again, I have only seen two reviews saying this. Anyway, this is my review. 4 stars.

I liked this game a lot, to the point where I even paid the feee to remove ads, I’ve literally been playing for a few years but a little bit ago they made some adjustments that I didn’t care for.
One being you no longer get two “discounted” boosts if you lose the game to remove three layers of bricks, you get the free one with the ad and then it’s the 200 rubies or whatever the in game currency is, and it goes up 100 every time you lose, it use to be 140 then 160 then it went to 200 and continued as normal
Second thing is they made obtaining the rubies a little harder, they use to have a pop up for the daily challenges where you can watch an ad to sometimes to obtain rubies or double the amount you receive for free for that day if you watch an ad, now it doesn’t pop up and I forget about it and when I do remember and go to do it they don’t double it, it’s just for 50 rubies, hardly worth an ad so I don’t really do it. I’m guessing this is all a way to get you to pay actual money for more rubies so it is what it is, but I’ve noticed I played a lot less since these changes were made

I love this game, I play it in my off times and it’s challenging enough to keep my invested. No level is the same, though there are some similar ones. I like that you can watch ads to get rubies, and you don’t necessarily have to pay anything. I’ve spent some money on rubies, but honestly you could play without them

HOWEVER! I purchased the Golden Aim, a piece of the game that lets you see up to three corners when you’re lining up your shot. I had it for quite a while and then it just disappeared! I tried turning on and off my phone, undownloading and redownloading the game, hitting the restore purchases button, and I have emailed 4 times now! When I go into the store it says ‘Purchased’, so I can’t just repurchase it and have it again. I got ONE automated reply that had a poor English about feeling free to cancel my subscription in the Apple store, which I don’t have the subscription so this had zero to do with me. I get it’s automated, but I have not had a follow email or a reply to my other 3 emails. I will happily change my review to 5 stars if this ever actually gets fixed. But for now I’m disappointed and will not be spending any more money on this game. Don’t waste your money on the Golden Aim, it’ll disappear and you’ll have zero communication

I’ve played this game for years and really enjoy it. I purchased the ad-free version (the one time purchase, not a subscription) and it’s 100% worth it. There’s plenty of opportunity to earn rubies by completing the weekly challenges and watching ads. 200 rubies per day in ads plus free and reduced cost “remove three lines” per day is very generous.

The developers have a good thing going here. Devs- please don’t get greedy! The new feature to skip a level seems designed to trick people into spending rubies. 900 rubies to skip a level, but the offer pops up after every attempt to restart a level with a big button that says “Skip”. But many people are going to be moving quickly and think “skip this offer” and click Skip instead of clicking the small X in corner. They’ll find themselves out 900 rubies that they never meant to spend. Devs, please fix this feature so it doesn’t pop up after every restart and design it in a way that doesn’t trick people into wasting rubies!

I’ve been playing for a couple months now. I recommend turning off its data if you’re gonna play it any sort of regularly because the 30 sec unskippable ads will get irritating just like always. However the reason I’ve come to write this review today is to let ye humans and the devs know that the difficulty ramps too steeply if you don’t buy power ups with real money. I’m stuck on level 469 and I’ve attempted it more times (cheating with a straight edge too) than the next 10 most difficult levels combined. That shouldn’t happen. I didn’t just somehow get worse since 468. I recommend taking a look at the block values again, especially the ‘armored’ ones that spawn with 450 hp when you have like 60 balls. That’s a bit too much...

Other than the difficulty curve, it’s a fairly interesting game. I might delete it just because I can’t progress anymore

The game is fun and somewhat addictive however needs some help. When you provide occasional free “extras” it makes people play games more...to the developers “gambling” is addictive because “sometimes” you win and the fact you don’t win every time makes it addictive. Therefore some games give free boosts randomly to improve the number of hours you play the game...why don’t you try this? Also the arrows flashing in the background are annoying and confusing. Is there something I’m supposed to watch in the middle of the game? Or is it just a flaw? Get it out. Also some of the games on BricksnBalls tally the final score before the last ball has exited the game board, which makes me think my score was predetermined...please fix that also, and get rid of the START screen. If we pushed the replay button we get that it is the start and as a newbie I kept pushing the start thinking I needed to and then inadvertently set off my ball(s). The page that has Day 1, 2, etc...also, what is that? I thought you got something free on each of those days but can’t see that it works.

I totally understand the developers of the game need to monetize their efforts. And I completely understand that ads are a part of that. But this game has jumped the shark. When you open the game you get an ad you have to close in order to get to start a level. before you can start the level you watch Ana’s. You get to the level and you have the opportunity to get extra balls. But, in order to get the extra balls you have to, wait for it, watch an ad. After you finish playing if you want to go to the next level you have to, wait for it, watch an ad.

As bad as all that is, the worst part is that the ads are extremely offensive. Once the ad stops playing and you have the opportunity to close the window of the ad, it takes you To BricksnBalls Store. You try to close out of BricksnBalls Store and go back to the game and it takes you back to the ad. If you try to Close the ad, guess what it, takes you to BricksnBalls Store. The only way to get out of the loop is to close the game and start all over. This game is fun but the nonsense in between is not worth it.

I normally don’t post reviews on apps, but I’ve been playing this game a lot lately and my 4 year old likes it too, so I downloaded it on the iPad.

I don’t have a problem with ads to support the developers (they are annoying, yes) and the cost to remove ads isn’t much. What I don’t like is the new content of the ads. If I am going to have my 4 year old play, ads catering to adults shouldn’t be displayed. And if you insist on doing so, make sure that there is a notification in place, requiring confirmation that the viewer is 18+. And not a simple button to press since my 4 year old can do that. I can pay the $2.99 to remove the ads, so my kid doesn’t see them, but who knows how many other young kids have this game on their tablet.

Lastly, I hate that the progress doesn’t sync between devices. If I play on my phone and get to higher levels, I shouldn’t have to restart at level 1 on another device, especially when connected to Game Center. I could get over the non-syncing because my 4 year old can play, but now the ads!

I’ve gone through a lot of little puzzle apps to use as a fidget/side activity mostly and keep coming back to this one, it’s fun and can be challenging and while the ads are really annoying like everyone else says it’s not too bad when the levels start to take a while.

But! Maybe this is a problem with my phone or the version I have but it drains my battery like crazy, like I have to stop what I’m doing and charge my phone after having this running for twenty or thirty minutes. That might be a stupid complaint to put in a review, I don’t know, and I don’t know if it’s fixable but yeah it’s by far the worst app on my phone for battery, I’ve played it for years and it’s so frustrating 😭 5 stars if not for that though!

Actually also it bugs me that the directions of the little zap arrow blocks seem to be randomized on most levels, this is suuuuper nitpicky lol but since I’m complaining anyway. Makes me feel like beating a level or not is partly up to chance depending on how they spin.

I’ll start off by saying that I love and have played this game so much I paid to get rid of the ads. I play it all the time while I listen to podcasts or before bed. Unfortunately, I’ve hit a point where I can’t proceed any further. I made it to the 450s and now if I want to play it I have to go back and play old levels. It sounds hyperbolic but I’ve genuinely been stuck on this level for 2 years. I’ve paid for the boosts and the power-ups but it’s impossible. There’s just too many blocks per row and not enough power-ups in the world to get past this level. My friends (who also have this game) have tried, my boyfriend (who also has this game) has tried, and I’ve tried countless times and made no progress whatsoever. I will literally save up all my power-ups and gems from the special events just to get past this level and it’s still not enough. How is that even possible? It’s frustrating to the point where it’s not fun anymore.

It’s a decent game to play when ads don’t get in the way, I even paid for no ads but they are still coming up, not random but every turn I’m asked to watch ads if I want more rewards, you can skip them but then it asks you to sign up for weekly subscriptions, if you offer to pay to remove ads then it should be that, if you want to play for free you get ads, or just offer a one time buy the game to unlock the extras, I would give 5 stars then, most of the ads are fake, they make the game look good and then you download a completely different game, this game however didn’t use false ads to get downloads, but is filled with ads, back to the game play, it’s fun, challenging and addicting, a few tweaks and it would be a perfect game, and I would give it 5 stars

Edit: okay so I tried the weekly subscription and it still throws ads out there if you want to double rewards, you get extra items but why so much and you should have ads at all whether you can skip them or not

I’ve been playing a few days now and reached level 100, which I’ve passed but it tells me that there are still lines to clear, even though the board is already cleared. I spent the rubies on it to pass hoping it would let me, and still nothing.
I have to restore the purchase to be a “diamond member” every time I start BricksnBalls , so I do not get the 200 rubies that I’m suppose to get as a paying member. I also don’t get anything for the levels I’ve passed so I’m not sure if it’s a bug in the system or what.
I actually paid for the rubies to get past whatever was going on for level 100, which turned out to be a waste of money since it won’t let me advance. I’ve gone as far as emailing the developer via their contact us link in BricksnBalls and have yet to hear back.
Game is entertaining but for those of us who actually play games and expect to get what we pay for, it’s a waste until the glitch is fixed and we get what we pay for.
Will update review of problems are corrected and if I get a response from my emails.

I rarely write reviews, but I just feel like I need to respond to a trend I see repeatedly in games all over BricksnBalls Store.

I thought this particular game was a good game, not great, but quite good. However I often see reviews that are lowered because the FREE game has ads in it! Now if the developer has not made a way to turn off these ads then I can accept that affecting the review. But I believe this game offered an option to pay $2.99 to disable the ads. To me, the developer has done everything possible to provide a good game while at the same time trying to earn a living.

Being that I’m older I easily remember the days where for a game on a PC you paid 20,30,40 or more dollars for a single game. It seems the mentality today is many people practically feel they are owed free games and those games had better be of the highest quality!

Developers are doing this for a living, they deserve to be paid. I’m shocked at how many high quality games are being sold for between 3-5 dollars. That’s a lot of work for a small return. I know many have in-app purchases, but they are optional.

Gas isn’t free, groceries aren’t free, clothes aren’t free, why should games be?

Regarding this game, I liked it, I paid the $3 to disable ads and I would recommend it for anyone not too cheap to support people who work for a living.

Thanks for hearing my support for app developers. - Ed

The developer has been listening to the reviews and made a huge number of improvements recently that made this previously unplayable game really fun and challenging.

The ads are completely manageable now that there is a reasonably priced ad removal package. The difficulty balance has been improved greatly by daily rewards. An effective amount of gems can now easily be obtained for free by playing classic mode and 100 ball, although I do find 100 ball to be fairly repetitive.

The game itself has always been fun with good controls and a huge number of challenging but beatable levels, and I enjoy trying to get 3 stars on every level. Now that the ads and bonuses are sane, it really is a lot of fun, and I don’t mind sliding a few ad-removal bucks to an active developer who reads reviews, especially for a game that has helped me kill so much time on the bus.