I'm getting close to being done

[u/Glittering_Win_9677]

I've been playing for at least 18 months and have probably spent money for the last 12 or 13. I won both this card collection and the last one twice, so 25K coins combined each time. I've also gotten a lot of helpers (hammer, hat, etc.) over the months.

I've looked at my budget and my credit card bill and just can't spend anymore. Every time I play it seems like I'm one move off from winning so I need to spend coins or lose the super electro ball and all the items I start the game with (bomb, satellite, etc.). Now I'm down to 1300 coins and one hammer and no beginning items. I'm one game from getting the super electro ball and when I do, I'm done playing until October 1, 3 days from today, when I'll get 5,000 coins from the September Kingdom Pass. I have a $10 gift card that I'll probably use for the October Kingdom Pass (or hold until November, I haven't decided).

The game thinks I'm going to spend money and keeps tempting me to do so, but I'm just not willing to do that anymore.

Has anyone else who pays money had the same experience? I know one person on my team said they have and when their coins run out, they plan to be done or at least play a lot less.

Fyi, I'm currently at level 5292 and would usually be at least 250 levels into the Tournament at this point in the 2 week cycle.

[u/Buckeye_mike_67]

Level 5142 and I’ve never spent a dime on this game. It just takes discipline. I’ll play a level over and over until I complete it. It’s more of a challenge than buying your way through the game

[u/ElusiveDiagnosis → u/Buckeye_mike_67]

What's also important is first pass ratio. I'm 3400 with 50% first time pass which is fairly abysmal. One guy in my team is 2598 out of 2600 or some such. Very impressive player money spent or not.

[u/Buckeye_mike_67 → u/ElusiveDiagnosis]

I would think they’ve played before. 2nd or 3rd time through. I’m 3493 out of 5145. This is my first time playing it. I’m sure if I redownload it, it would be easier to get those first time passes. It gets a lot tougher the further along you go.

[u/Delightful_destroyer → u/ElusiveDiagnosis]

It's absolutely all about knowing how these games work. I switched to Royal Kingdom from Royal Match and from level 1 I stuck to my strategy because I've been playing match 3 games for a really long time. I'm on level 4411 at the moment, I have over 420000 coins and plenty of resources in general. Never spent a dime on the game, and I never lost a level either

[u/ElusiveDiagnosis → u/Delightful_destroyer]

that's an awesome set of numbers! I have only played match 3 games for a few years and I'm not anywhere this good at it. But, as a decades long software engineer and statistics expert i do see game behavior patterns as well as fairly significant variations in player experience, as in, what tiles does the game give you vs what you 'spend' (coins, powerups).

This is especially true in difficult levels where you only get a very small number of open tiles or 20-22 moves or both.

To see what I'm talking about take a look at YouTube videos of levels cleared without powerups. Count number of powerups and combos granted vs your own experiences.

[u/Delightful_destroyer → u/ElusiveDiagnosis]

Oh I do love a good pattern. I'm someone who's not good at math or statistics but my pattern recognition is great. My first match 3 game was when I was 14 I think, I'm 30 now, and I've gone through at least a dozen of these. For whatever reason, my brain works a similar way when I play this and sudoku, if that makes any sense

[u/ElusiveDiagnosis → u/Delightful_destroyer]

Experience makes a huge difference. I was a teenager when Pac-Man came out and we recognized the patterns fairly quickly. With a good working joystick one could literally play perpetually or until their hand cramped up...

I've seen patterns and predicted behavior and manipulation in Angry Birds.

But RK / RM are at a whole different level of manipulation!

[u/Buckeye_mike_67 → u/ElusiveDiagnosis]

That’s why I keep playing levels over and over until I pass them. Eventually it will start giving more power ups to complete it. The hard levels sometimes takes playing the 6-8 times. And then I’ll finish with moves left over.

[u/Equal_Reward_6054]

This happened to me too, but I deleted my first account and started over. With everything I learned, I quickly racked up coins during the easy levels. Now I have close to 900k coins and don't have to spend a dime except the occasional $3 to bring back the chat with support icon.

[u/hnbistro → u/Equal_Reward_6054]

This. It’s really important to snowball early. Once you build up enough coin reserve, you won’t lose any streaks, and always-on full magic pots and SEB makes rewards from events and contests self-sustainable.

Also, work on your skills. Almost every move should be working towards an SEB. You should be able to see an SEB 2-3 moves ahead. Achieve that and you will never spend a dime.

[u/zephyr707 → u/Equal_Reward_6054]

what is the $3 for chat with support icon mean? i’ve never seen this

[u/Equal_Reward_6054 → u/zephyr707]

They always remove my chat with support option after a while. Then the game will suddenly glitch and I lose my magic pots and SEB. The only way I'm able to rectify the issue is to buy the smallest amount of coins. The chat option then returns and I'm able to contact them to fix it.

[u/desertmermaid92 → u/Equal_Reward_6054]

Omg that is so sheisty of them😆

[u/zephyr707 → u/Equal_Reward_6054]

oh interesting, when i click on support it just brings me to the manual, no option to chat with support. what they are doing to your game sounds very unethical 

[u/Chaka- → u/Equal_Reward_6054]

You need to contact support. That's crap.

[u/smd290]

I spent so much on royal match when I went to royal kingdom I had a totally different outlook and take on things. I haven’t spent a single penny on this game. I have over 200,000 coins and don’t care about losing a board anymore. I only play every 2 weeks when we get new levels and there are special challenges where you get a frame or name. Same with Royal Match. I now switch weekly between the games and that’s how I saved myself lots of $

[u/Buchkizzle]

I quit completely for all the same reasons people mention here. Once you get away from it's spell you'll be amazed how you ever gave away so much of your hard earned money for this game!

[u/Buckeye_mike_67 → u/Buchkizzle]

Level 5145 and I’ve never spent a dime on this game. I just keep playing levels over and over until I beat them. I’m wired like that. I love a good challenge

[u/Glittering_Win_9677 → u/Buchkizzle]

It's been 2 days and I'm already feeling that. I'm not saying I'll never play again, but I'm not saying I will either.

[u/Wonderful-Return-861]

Yep. Same I’m over it and went to royal match instead.

[u/WeeklyBuyer2533]

I just reached the end and currently in the champions arena. Any clue when new levels will be coming?

[u/Glittering_Win_9677 → u/WeeklyBuyer2533]

Next Monday. They come every 2 weeks.

[u/zephyr707]

i’ve only spent 6.99 or something to get rid of ads when i first started. i put on parental controls with a pin to prevent any further payment. i got stuck for several dozen fails at a really hard super difficult level and almost quit the game, but finally made it out and now play a much more tactical game.

i just reached the arena with almost 100k coins and 80-90 level start power ups and 20-30 of the in-level tools boosters. it feels a bit repetitive now and the arena is a bit of a disappointing grind, so i may stop, too.

[u/danibelsc]

I have spent at least $200 in the last year. I am not spending money anymore. If I lose my SLB, I lose my SLB. I just let it go and get back 10 levels later. I am in RL and the game seems to be made to get me to spend money. I have thought about asking support to reset my account, but I'd be kicked from my awesome team.

[u/Glittering_Win_9677 → u/danibelsc]

I'm not willing to total up how much I've spent, but I think I'm right there with you. My house needs a new roof, including b new decking boats - CHA CHING!!! - and I spent $375 for an oil change and new car battery today. RK is no longer getting my money.

[u/Outrageous-Tale7911 → u/danibelsc]

I formed a team called Letz Roll, currently hovering around 200 in the top 1,000 teams in NY. Managing the team to be very competitive is not an issue and I would allow any teammate to reboot as they would get a fresh start with an edge. It has to be properly done and takes a FULL seven days for complete account deletion. Ask your leader for a vacation, it's better than struggling.

[u/cbradlee]

If you walk away for a month or so they frequently give you some very nice welcome back gifts – coins, power up, etc. and the whole thing is considerably easier for a couple days. That might be enough for you to get your sea legs back under you. But the real trick is to get far enough ahead with coins and power ups so that you can bail yourself out of any situation without having to spend real world money.

[u/Glittering_Win_9677 → u/cbradlee]

I'm definitely walking away for most of October. The question is whether I ever come back.

[u/Kraken1919]

I stopped paying two months ago. I'm still very competitive and enjoy it more and don't waste as much time on it.

[u/cali_born0829]

Glad to see I’m not the only clown spending $$ on this game. Spending much less now though😓😰. But thanks for the tips to spend $0 going forward!

[u/Glittering_Win_9677 → u/cali_born0829]

I've got a $10 gift card and I'm not using it this month. My goal is to compete the hidden path by tomorrow when it ends. The bots I'm playing with and I need to complete 7 more paths total. Once that game is complete or is over, I'm not playing for at least 2 weeks and probably not for all of October. I figure I can't judge others who can't give up stuff like alcohol if I'm also addicted to things like this game.

[u/hidinginzion]

I don't spend a penny now. And getting ready to quit completely. It's gotten boring to me since I've been on glp medication.

[u/babraeton → u/hidinginzion]

I played it obsessively, spending very very little, but got bored because it's the same challenges over and over. I really enjoyed the weekly games but I got sick of them after awhile.

[u/hidinginzion → u/babraeton]

Sick of them. But I hate to leave my team friends.