Castle Cats: Idle Hero RPG

-1.73
Slightly Bad
Price: Free
Ads: Yes
In App Purchases: Yes

Google Play App Store

Temporal Dark PatternsTemporal Dark Patterns

This game has 20 reported Temporal Dark Patterns. There are 8 votes indicating the absence of a dark pattern.

-2.96

4 votes
Daily Rewards -
4 / 0 votes
Encourages return visits every day and punishes you for missing a day.

4 votes
Grinding -
4 / 0 votes
Being required to perform repetitive and tedious tasks to advance.

4 votes
Advertisements -
4 / 0 votes
Forced to watch ads or given rewards for watching ads.

4 votes
Infinite Treadmill -
4 / 0 votes
Impossible to win or complete the game.

4 votes
Wait To Play -
4 / 0 votes
In-game timers that make you arbitrarily wait for something.

4 votes
Playing by Appointment -
0 / 4 votes
Being forced to play according to the game's schedule instead of yours.

4 votes
Can't Pause or Save -
0 / 4 votes
The game does not allow you to stop playing whenever you want.

Monetary Dark PatternsMonetary Dark Patterns

This game has 21 reported Monetary Dark Patterns. There are 18 votes indicating the absence of a dark pattern.

-1.52

4 votes
Premium Currency -
4 / 0 votes
Exchange rate between real money and in-game currency disguises the real price of items.

4 votes
Recurring Fee -
4 / 0 votes
Encourages players to play as much as possible to get their money's worth.

3 votes
Gambling / Loot Boxes -
3 / 0 votes
Spending real money to play a game of chance for a reward.

3 votes
Waste Aversion -
3 / 0 votes
Capped inventory forces you to destroy items or upgrade inventory. Also, having small amounts of left over premium currency.

3 votes
1 votes
Artificial Scarcity -
3 / 1 votes
Limited time offers with unnecessary urgency.

2 votes
1 votes
Pay to Skip -
2 / 1 votes
Spend money to avoid waiting for a timer to expire.

1 votes
2 votes
Pay to Win -
1 / 2 votes
A player can spend real money to purchase something that gives them an advantage in the game.

1 votes
2 votes
Anchoring Tricks -
1 / 2 votes
Placing a cheap item next to an expensive item to make it look more affordable.

4 votes
Accidental Purchases -
0 / 4 votes
Making it easy to accidentally spend money with no confirmation or ability to undo or refund the action.

4 votes
Power Creep -
0 / 4 votes
A permanently purchased item in the game becomes less valuable over time.

4 votes
Pay Wall -
0 / 4 votes
The game becomes impossible to continue playing without payment.

Social Dark PatternsSocial Dark Patterns

This game has 7 reported Social Dark Patterns. There are 20 votes indicating the absence of a dark pattern.

0.83

4 votes
Social Pyramid Scheme -
4 / 0 votes
You get a bonus for inviting your friends and then they have to invite their friends.

3 votes
1 votes
Fear of Missing Out -
3 / 1 votes
If you stop playing you'll miss out on something or be left behind and unable to catch up.

4 votes
Social Obligation / Guilds -
0 / 4 votes
To avoid letting down your friends, you are obligated to play when you don't want to.

4 votes
Friend Spam / Impersonation -
0 / 4 votes
The game sends spam to your contact list or social media account.

4 votes
Reciprocity -
0 / 4 votes
Feeling obligated to return a favor, share resources, trade an item, etc.

4 votes
Encourages Anti-Social Behavior -
0 / 4 votes
The game incentivizes players to lie, cheat, or backstab other players to get ahead.

3 votes
Competition -
0 / 3 votes
The game makes you compete against other players.

Psychological Dark PatternsPsychological Dark Patterns

This game has 11 reported Psychological Dark Patterns. There are 10 votes indicating the absence of a dark pattern.

-1.27

3 votes
Invested / Endowed Value -
3 / 0 votes
Having already spent time and money to improve your status in the game, it's difficult to throw it away.

3 votes
Complete the Collection -
3 / 0 votes
The urge to collect all the items, achievements or secrets in a game.

2 votes
1 votes
Badges / Endowed Progress -
2 / 1 votes
Reluctancy to abandon a partially completed goal, even one forced upon the player.

2 votes
1 votes
Variable Rewards -
2 / 1 votes
Unpredictable or random rewards are more addictive than a predictable schedule.

1 votes
2 votes
Aesthetic Manipulations -
1 / 2 votes
Trick questions or toying with emotions or our subconscious desires.

3 votes
Illusion of Control -
0 / 3 votes
The game cheats or hides information to make you think you're better than you actually are.

3 votes
Optimism and Frequency Biases -
0 / 3 votes
Overestimating the frequency of something because we’ve seen it recently or memorably.

App Store Ratings

Google Play:  (4.67) with 129,905 votes.



Recent Dark Pattern Reviews

Daily Rewards reported on Dec 21, 2022
Does not reset if you miss a day.
Fear of Missing Out reported on May 30, 2022
Monthly rolling events have exclusive cats.
Daily Rewards reported on May 30, 2022
Daily login counter. Log in every day for a year and you get a special cat.
Waste Aversion reported on May 30, 2022
Your materials bag is capped and requires gems to increase all the way. You cannot remove the cap even with paying, only increase it.
Variable Rewards reported on May 30, 2022
Some cats have abilities where you have a chance to get rare upgrade materials by sending them on quests. This is a random chance, fairly low, but at least it's clearly defined.
Complete the Collection reported on May 30, 2022
Cat collection is a massive part of the game. A cat stickerbook is constantly displayed, showing how many cats you have left to go.
Badges / Endowed Progress reported on May 30, 2022
"Plushies" can be crafted once you hit arbitrary, secret milestones. You cannot view these milestones in advance unless you search them up, and even the wiki has a hard time figuring out how to get some plushies.
Gambling / Loot Boxes reported on May 30, 2022
The main way to get cats, outfits, and event items is through gacha boxes. These can be pulled with currency earned in-game, but spending is encouraged.
Recurring Fee reported on May 30, 2022
"Monthly Gem Card" will trickle premium currency to you over a month for an up-front fee. There's also a VIP system, where if you spend so many dollars in a single month, you have ads removed for the remainder of that month and get some cool perks. Of course, this encourages you to spend that much every month to maintain the perks.
Pay to Skip reported on May 30, 2022
Spend money to replenish tap energy, which allows you to skip quest timers.


Report a Dark Pattern

Screenshot The unique IDLE CAT COLLECTING RPG on Play Store. Collect HEROIC CATS and battle against the EVIL PUGOMANCER!!

Join millions of players around the world and find out why this is the ultimate CAT COLLECTING game!

Nominated for Indie Prize 2017 AND 2018!!

FEATURES:

1. Idle and Action system
Set your heroes to battle while youre away. When returning, collect rewards, upgrade your heroes and collect new epic cats. You can also join the battles whenever you want and help your heroes out!

2. Collecting Strategy
Castle Cats has over 150+ heroes with a wide range of abilities. Summon your CATS, EVOLVE and UNLOCK new TRAITS, SKILLS and OUTFITS. Collect FAMOUS CELEBRITY CATS like: Cole and Marmalade, Hosico, Monty, Nala, Waffles and many more!

3. Customizable Guild Leader
Collect over 100 different items for your leader and customize to your own liking.

4. Event Driven Game
Frequent EVENT updates. Everything from SUPERHERO, CELEBRITY, HOLIDAY, SUMMER and WINTER event.

5. Intriguing Story
Castle Cats has a very special and unique storyline where you can follow the cats and defeat the EVIL PUGOMANCER. Every event consists of 15 STORY DRIVEN quests with hilarious and pun-driven content.

What are you waiting for?? Download MEOW!

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! [Cat puns included!]
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DONT LIKE CATS? Join the dark side! https://twitter.com/EvilPugomancer

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