The Arcana Game

Are there any options for buying entire routes?  I'm loving the game so far, but I've spent $40 just to get about 1/2 way through Julian's route. There are 6 routes. If it costs $80 per route, that is $480 for all six stories. That's a little excessive, even in the world of computer games. I don't have time to spend trying to chase down 10 coins here and 20 coins there. I'd rather pay to unlock whole stories, but I'm having trouble justifying this amount of money to unlock just one path.  (I know you can play them without the extra options, but I'm a completist and I want to see everything.... just not sure why it will cost $500 to do so).

I have been playing this game for a while now and I was very excited to see this on itch, hence the reason why I thought there was a pc version. I don't understand why people are complaining though, yes I was disappointed but still, I'm pretty sure if the people on here can afford laptops/pcs you can surely afford phones. the game is free, you have 4+ ways to get coins (for free) and that is all DAILY. ranging from getting at least 20-1000+ due to the wheel, tarot visits and ad (optional, you aren't forced to watch ads every 10 seconds.) so before anyone complains about anything maybe open your phone that's probably inches away? thank you.

literally downloaded bluestacks just to play this, because a friend of mine told me they think I'd like it (and they're totally not simping over Nadia) 
They guess im going for Muriel or Asra. I havent even opened the game yet, but let's see if they're correct

i only found out about this game recently by browsing the google play store and seeing the plethora of positive reviews.  i played through the prologue and was really intrigued by the story, characters, and beautiful visuals, but also disheartened by all the premium scenes that require in-game currency to access.  in the "free" prologue there are many scenes that are offered as premium without giving you enough starter coins to watch them. it seemed odd to me that even in their initial way to hook you into the game they would include these. i imagine this trend continues throughout the rest of the game in even more brazen fashion.

following the prologue, i wound up checking out some of the game merch through a link in the app, and noticed a note mentioning their kickstarter campaign. i went to find the kickstarter page just to read about the game development and saw that there was also a desktop version that was mentioned. seeing this, i was thrilled to play on a larger screen and got on itch.io looking to purchase the game for around $30-35 for mac/pc, as this would be my preferred method of playing. even if the mobile version content is completely free (sans premium scenes), i would rather pay a reasonable one-time amount to unlock all scenes. unfortunately, i found that nix hydra wasn't able to deliver on a pc version as promised in the kickstarter campaign, despite being more than fully funded.

reading through this thread, it appears that in order to enjoy all the content the game has to offer would cost in the hundreds of dollars. i know it's becoming increasingly popular (thanks, FarmVille) for companies to do a "freemium" model, or micro-transactions, primarily in the mobile game world (but not always.. EA, looking at you). i know games cost money to make, and companies need steady revenue to support their existing games and create new ones, however, this is an extremely unfortunate trend that, as a lifelong gamer, really breaks my heart. 

in my life i've owned around 10 consoles - some handheld, some not, in addition to mac/pc. mobile gaming is really sort of a last resort for me, but i understand it is likely the most accessible to everyone. taken directly from the kickstarter page "Nix Hydra is a female-founded mobile game company making magical, colorful, bold products for young women and anyone else traditionally ignored by the gaming industry." i really feel like nix hydra has good intentions and i can tell this game is created with care. however, it doesn't sit right with me that this smaller, female-founded company is taking cues from detested, greedy media-conglomerates like EA. the "freemium" mobile model may be more accessible in some respects, however, it feels kind of.. classist.  it's basically saying "yes everyone can enjoy this, but if you have more to spend you'll be able to enjoy it more".  and therein lies the rub.

i'm not trying to call out nix hydra because they're doing something unusual (sadly, they are not) but i feel like they can be better than this. again, this game seems to be a labor of love, but after EA and others have left such a bad taste in my mouth from micro-transactions, i can not bring myself to play this game any further. i have family and friends who are genderqueer and would love to play a game like this. however i don't feel comfortable recommending it to them. if there were a one-time payment, full purchase option, i would happily change my mind and be likely share it with others.

Why are people angry in the comments? I can understand how people could be upset for it originally being for pc or something, but having it as a mobile game benefited both the players and the company more. From seeing this game is the type of thing you play as your daily things to do, like many phone based visual novels that rely on irl time.

And I might be wrong, but the reason they might price routes high is because they were struggling to continue producing other routes, like Portia at one point? I could be wrong, so be aware of that. 

Without paying for extra scenes you still get a satisfying play through of any character route. They also hold periods of time with events where you can speed through stories without the cost of keys if i remember right.  Whenever you spend money or not it's enjoyable, you can also go on wiki pages for seeing unlockable scenes for free if that's really a problem.

With the game I never felt they were trying to take peoples money, since they would've made the ending (upright or downright) rely on spending money I suppose to unlock extra scenes.  The way they handle their prices can always be changed and I'm sure they'll do what benefits both the players and also their company.

I remember playing a game that takes 30 irl days and more to complete, that gives less content than this game during the bits you can play, which also relied on leveling up your characters clothes taking even more time. In my experience of games, the arcana is a great game is what I'm trying to say. 

:b

Interesting that you created an itch.io page when you have no intention of providing a PC version, or even a single-payment mobile version,  even though that was one of the original promises of your kickstarter (which I backed as a result). Probably because it'd be harder to bilk your fans for thousands of dollars worth of microtransactions that way.

(TLDR: The Arcana could be good but it is incredibly overpriced thanks to predatory microtransactions.) 

As much as I want to like The Arcana, I just can't get past the predatory microtransactions. I know there are free ways to earn coins, and I've heard the argument that it's worth it because the game is of a "higher quality", but at at least £100 per route if you want to see all the content is just extortionate for what it is. The game is so heavily overpriced for the content that is actually there. 

There are a few ways in game to earn coins: waiting, watching ads or playing the in game minigames such as heart hunter and a spin the wheel game which can be played for only a limited amount of times each day. However, as with most apps, the in game ways of earning coins are inefficient and would take a inordinate amount of time to earn enough for even one scene. Not to mention that the minigames are literally gambling, spinning the wheel in the hopes that you'll win enough coins to unlock a new scene. 

I want to like this game. I think it could be a fun visual novel and as someone who loves tarot, seeing a visual novel incorporate it into the world building is something I was excited to see. But no matter how pretty the art is how interesting the setting comes across, it is simply too expensive. 

As an example, some scenes in The Arcana cost around 250 coins, which in turn costs about £4.99. Depending on how fast you read, the scenes probably last maybe a couple minutes at most, plus a CG. Now compare that to another visual novel, such as Our Life, which charges £3.99 for DLC that includes at least a couple hours worth of content plus new CGs. Or visual novels such as Royal Alchemist, which charges one up front cost plus an upfront cost for extras such as the official guide and art books. 

Yes, these are separate companies with different business models. But Nyx Hydra made the choice to follow a microtransaction based business model when there are more ethical, less extortionate models they could follow. 

If you have the hundreds of pounds/dollars to spend, sure, go ahead. I'm not going to tell you how you should spend your money. But I can't recommend this game to anyone with these prices.