I love mobile gaming; it tends to be easy to access and primarily free content. There’s a plethora of good and bad games all accessible at my finger tips. Now, I’ve found a recent gripe with the IOS Play Store. I’m not sure if it’s also a Google Play Store issue as I am an IOS user, so I will only focus on the IOS version. There’s no clear way to tell if a game is a demo! 

Now, I’m not that tech savvy to be able to understand the intricacies on why it’d be different from Steam or the Epic Games Store, but I can say that other platforms that offer similar experiences are a lot clearer about demos. It’s usually one of the first things you’ll know when you bring up the game’s store page. 

That’s not the same with the IOS Play Store, not from what I’ve seen. I like to go over my recommendations list from what the Play Store offers to me, and I often see great games with amazing premises. It’s an easy way to find new games without countlessly scrolling through different searches and one catered to my interests since I’ve used the same account for so long. However, I have a new problem with the interface. 

I can’t tell if I’m looking at a demo or if I’m going to experience the whole game. Some apps have been great at telling me in the description whether or not the game is solely a demo or if a full game is offered at a price. That’s fine. It’s what I expect. 

But some games don’t do that. Sometimes, it doesn’t even show on the main title screen that there is a full game to purchase. Instead, I’ve been left playing through a short sample of a game into a black screen telling me to pay a certain amount for the full game or to wait for more updates to continue the game, essentially giving early access to it. 

Why do this? I understand in part it is to incite interest and to reach more of an audience. Like I’ve said, mobile gaming is convenient. Offering a demo allows players to see what is entailed in the game to figure out if they’d like a full version of the game. I’m not against that. 

I’m against not explicitly stating this on the store page of IOS. 

Now, this is a minor issue I’ve noticed. Only a few games I’ve tried out have done this, so it’s a few bad seeds in a tree of apples. But, it was never an issue I’ve encountered before but rather one that has emerged more recently. It’s easy to see it escalating into a worse situation without countermeasures placed. 

It feels at odds with how so many completed games are offered on the IOS Play Store, for free or for a price. Yet, these demos are hidden in this archive. The frustration I have felt in playing a mobile game only to find out its a demo for a larger game is tangible. 

The fact that the price tag is hidden makes me less open to buying the full version. I downloaded the app expecting a full game with an interesting premise. I didn’t expect a demo. 

Like I’ve said, it’s a small issue that has seemed to have only recently cropped up. But I can’t help but feel misled when other platforms ensure that I don’t have this issue. 

What are your thoughts about hiding demos on the IOS Play Store? Have you encountered anything similar? Share your thoughts in the comments below or in our Boss Rush Discord!

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