I’m not really sure where to put Plunder!, both in its description and its price. It’s a little misleading in that apparently it’s a $4.99 game that was listed as a “free app for the day.” Which isn’t entirely true. It only gives you five plays free, and then has coin packages that you can buy from 99 cents to $4.99. Coins are what the apps refer to as how many plays you have. It then goes on to say, that you can earn 3x more coins free. I only received five coins before the app asked me to buy more coins.
Having said that, the game is well-designed with Disney-esque illustrations and great music that reminds me of the Caribbean. You control the fate of eight pirate ships. Your goal is to get those ships, safely to the other side. You’ll have canons at your disposal that you will use to sink British naval ships. In your path are floating mines and canons. Depending on the level you’re at, you can sink the British ships with either two or three hits and then plunder their goods, some of which is valuable, and some is not. You score three different ways. If I could play again, I’d tell you what those three ways are.
At first try, the game is pretty straight forward, you blow up ships, and clear a way to the other side, but the more you play, the more you realize there can be a lot of strategy to the game. “Power ups” are rewards you sometimes get when you plunder. They help you get your ship across the board faster. It was a fun game, but the whole Trial Version technique was a little bit of a turnoff for me. The other thing I didn’t like was that you had to register with plus+. It’s an online network of many more games. The game will not open unless you sign up for a free account. I thought that was a little strange. It would have been nice to have a guest version. For those two reasons, I only gave the app three bars.
