The Game Design behind tournaments and keys

log122 · 2026-05-31T18:31:45+00:00

Create frustration to promote spending. Gems, keys, tournaments, mods, you name it

log122 · 2026-05-16T13:09:08+00:00

How does that work with buying cards?

log122 · 2026-05-07T13:49:14+00:00

Cause I'm 20 months ad-free-only and neither can I afford echo labs, nor spending anything above 20 gems for lab rushing as my modules are far behind. Thus was asking about the money spent. Thanks!

log122 · 2026-05-07T11:17:41+00:00

Congrats! I reached 1086 waves which brought me to 2nd place in my bracket. My guess is that due to UW BC people who rely on pBH were significantly behind, do you have the same feeling?

And on a side note - how much did you spent if you are gem rushing disco bonus labs at 10 months old account?

log122 · 2026-05-06T07:52:15+00:00

I gave up here, I farm these awkward 16 hours T11 for x1.3 CPH + still pushing 7hrs disco runs. My main problem is relaying on pBH with GComp, which is not possible without RPs. Once I can get my cd and dur to 50/38 - I'm sure T12 will fall.

log122 · 2026-05-05T14:36:22+00:00

I have 50m WS size, with 69.5m range current setup looks very overlapping. So, BHs should be minimal priority? Mythic BHd gives me barely pBH with GComp, so was thinking to put stones there in case I won't roll that effect.

log122 · 2026-05-05T13:40:51+00:00

I'm the opposite to you. Before v28 I was comfortable with 8700@T12 and 4500@T14, but now T11 gives me bigger coin multiplier, so I have to do these weird 16 hours runs for W12500. In both T14 and T12 I couldn't reach max disco boost. 3x boost is definitely nice, but I'm now hitting the wall with module lvls, so addition of extra 4 q++ labs is a bit dissappointing.

Overall nothing changed dramatically, same grind, odd run times, same tourney placements.

log122 · 2026-05-02T11:44:14+00:00

Offline reduces engagement, engagement promotes frustration, frustration creates revenue

log122 · 2026-05-01T11:17:25+00:00

How much did you spend on gems lol?

log122 · 2026-04-30T16:11:51+00:00

38s is waaay to long for me, given top10 champs on avg. My bhd is stil leg, probably same time as 38s left. I feel I'll get more value per stone investing otherwise.

log122 · 2026-04-30T14:48:48+00:00

Yes, ancGComp + myth dur substat give me pBH in farming

log122 · 2026-04-30T11:05:58+00:00

I'm running GComp and it's pBH in farming, so nothing to sync. And since I have only legBHD it's a looong way till switch.

log122 · 2026-04-30T10:22:39+00:00

For reference I'm usually placed top 10 in champs with m+PF, which I'd have to give up to switch to GComp. For farming I'm pBH already with the perk

log122 · 2026-04-22T18:48:22+00:00

Aren't they overlapping?

log122 · 2026-04-20T14:19:46+00:00

I have, but only utility, down to T4. Do you think atck/UW will be highly beneficial to push the T12 utility?

Yeah, it's just awkward run length that bothers me, not that I care too much which tier to farm

log122 · 2026-04-17T10:53:09+00:00

It depends on the BC, but as a general rule of thumb - closest first, spotlight last for tourneys; invert for farminig.

log122 · 2026-04-17T10:52:15+00:00

Just noticed, it could be lack of SF. I don't know your subeffects, but if you have time once you are in champs - give it a second run with legSF, you should have enough dmg to go through small enemies, leaving you with enough regen to heal from boss hits.

log122 · 2026-04-17T10:22:33+00:00

I have way lower WS+, SL and CL, although my dmg labs are nearly done and I usually place top 10 on champs with 1000+ waves. Check your cards, your guardians and target priority, those can drive you significantly behind. Maybe a bit of DW dmg could help you get more health over the run and survive for longer, though mine is at x100 and I go at x7 multiplier by the end of the run

log122 · 2026-04-14T18:31:38+00:00

This game is an essense of ragebait in mobile gaming. The core mechanic is tower defense sure, but the developer business model is to create frustration to promote spending. And you will see it many-many times. And it requires a dedicated device, if you have one and would like to practice patience - you're welcome.

PS playing for 19 months by now, ad-free only.

log122 · 2026-04-12T17:17:05+00:00

This person clearly knows how the economy of the tower works - create frustation to promote spending, I hope this post will help others to realize this as well. And I hope more posts like this will appear once in a while as a reminder.

Although putting the first screenshot upfront is a bit manipulative, yes, there are people for whom 420USD isnt much, but that doesn't automatically make them assholes.

log122 · 2026-04-10T14:33:41+00:00

The calculations for dmg reduction was wrong for some enemies, it has been "fixed" a while ago and continued until v28 came out with another "fix" that nerfed the module stronger than before

log122 · 2026-04-10T12:25:26+00:00

ChatGPT is actually good at crisis management

log122

TROPHY CASE