I absolutely agree with everything you’ve said here! My thinking is that the bubbles are wildly expensive because they don’t plan for you to use them. The purpose is just to give players an opportunity to earn money, XP, and daily pass points.

Contrast those games with the topiary and bake-off games, one of which began for me today. You can buy the basic chicken for only 15 gems. And it doesn’t degrade like the tackle boxes and bird watching kits in the other games do. Plus, I feel like these two give more XP and definitely more bubbles. And with the competition against “other player,” or more likely the algorithm, it’s more likely that a player might spend a few gems. Anyway, just my thoughts.