GR:
Hey, boys and girls! Did you hear about the new business model that all the cool kids say is going to be the future? It's called “free to play." First it's free, and then you play! I know, right? Now let's all go drink Kool-aid together!
I have to admit that every time I sit down with a developer to check out a free-to-play title, like Brick-Force, I get a little knot in my stomach. I'm just waiting for that awkward moment when the game starts asking you for money. Then during the interview with the developer, I dread the part of my otherwise friendly discussion where I have to ask the big question: How are you monetizing?
GB: The three PC games have a similar premise: Take Minecraft's block-building gameplay and add plenty of guns and explosions. We dove into each one to see just how different they are from one another.
Machinima: "The Brick-Force cheery motto reads 'Build, Share, Play', and out of the corner of your eye, you might see those adorable Playmobil-looking player-avatars and get the oblique sense you’ve stumbled into a colorful, online Legoland nation of ‘emergent play’ harmony…right up until you get your virtual brains blown out by a ruthless, remorseless sniper you never even saw. And just FYI, that sniper may very well be me."
GotGame: Brick-Force, from Infernum and EXE Games, has been out for some time now, though you may not have come across it yet. It’s what would happen if you took the block based building aspects of Minecraft, took out the fact that you have to pay, and combined it with first person shooter mechanics. Did we mention it’s free?
