I like the game, but it has problems that ruin it.

I have actually played the car parking game that the same developer makes and it has the same basic design and the same problems. You have a bunch of simple levels that get very boring and then you have boss levels. The boss levels should be the whole game, but in this game, there are certain levels that they have programmed in that cannot be won. They were created to be one move short of what you need and I've seen it on 3 boss levels; I played them over and over again and I do essentially the same moves every time I go through because there's nothing else to do. Also, there is the neighborhood building component where you have to build every building up to the max in order to get whatever bonuses you're getting from that, which are probably, if I remember, extra moves are one of the things you can get which apparently you need to complete certain boss levels. The problem is that if you max this thing out to the max, it's ugly. All the buildings of the same and it's this giant tin can looking thing. Who wants to do that? Good potential and really boring execution.

Wish I could play the game.

I understand that games have to earn a profit and have to use ads but when the game design has you spend substantially more time watching ads than playing the game itself, it is what I would call a major design flaw! Yes you can pay to remove ads but when I cannot even tell if this is a game I am going to enjoy playing b/c it takes 10 mins to play 5 puzzles b/c of said ads, things are out of hand. I can’t get a feel for if the puzzles get better, harder etc or they just keep using cheap tricks like making the balls randomly bounce out without anyway to control b/c of so much time spent in ads. Then when you fail and retry… guess what? -another ad! If the developers of the game have so much cost overhead to where they have to continue to show an ad with each puzzle instead of every 4-5 like reasonable games do then the company has other issues and would t want to support a failing company! I do not think this is the case though and it’s just greed, them trying to extract every penny possible out of each user. Please change the amount of ads shown, I don’t need to see one for every puzzle or if I choose to restart it b/c of failing! Heck even just do it for the first 20-30 puzzles or so that way I can tell if I would like the game. I have a feeling I would like this a lot if there is proper pacing and difficulty ramp up, but I am not giving companies like this any money when I am watching more ads than playing!

Too many ads

I really like this game but it has way too many ads to the point that I’m gonna delete this game. Every single time I’m done with a level, it shows a ad and it’s so annoying. Yes, the ads have a skip button but the first time that I click it the skip button when it shows, it has links behind it and it takes me to the App Store which is beyond annoying. The amount of time I have to close out the ad is about a minute because I click the skip button but then it makes me wait 10 seconds to actually exit the ad. It also shows the same game every single time. The thing is, I already downloaded one of those games (clash royal) but I deleted it because it had way too many ads. And the other thing is that when it shows a ad of a game, that’s not what even happens in the game, they are trying to make you download the game because of something. They make the level look so hard when literally you have to do one move it’s so annoying. We’re not dumb. That’s the problem with all of these games nowadays- they have WAY TOO MANY ADS. This is why no one wants to play these games! And no I’m not paying money to stop showing ads, I should be able to play the game with no ads whatsoever and be happy about it. I was on level30 in a matter of 10 minutes. Yes I like this game but it would be better if all you can do it get rid of the ads without us PAYING MONEY to basically PLAY A VIDEO GAME ! 🙄

It’s a game made to make you watch ads

This is what some might call a “relaxing”, where as I might tend toward the word “mindless”. There is little to no challenge to the regular levels, like four to six pins in the puzzle and literally the only way to lose is to not pull any pins at all, or the other more insidious way, which I will come to in just a minute. The other type of levels are “challenge levels” that become available after about every 25 or so regular levels beaten, and you pay with coins earned to open these levels and then you get ONE chance to beat that level, if you don’t succeed, you are then forced to watch a full ad to try it again. Here the insidious part that I mentioned earlier, the physics can be broken so that sometimes a ball will just miss the goal and you have to watch another ad to play the level again and hope it doesn’t just miss again, but it gets even worse, during the challenge levels sometimes a ball will just phase through a solid wall and fall and you don’t even know that you lost for another 15 to 20 seconds because its still falling or something? And it becomes a far too common event the further you get into the game. It’s almost as if its purposeful and not a bug to make you watch more ads. So if you love watching ads, boy is this the game for you!

A glorified ad platform.

I liked this game for a while. It’s simple, but it’s a decent way to unwind for a few minutes. stopped playing for a while because I was navigating a cross-country move and buying my first house, and when I came back to playing it was completely different. I don’t remember a ton of ads when I first picked up the game, but now I can maybe get through two levels before another ad plays. On top of that, there are now “boss levels” that are genuinely more challenging, which is nice… when they work. But after the first few boss levels, it got to a point where even if I completed the level perfectly, at the very last moment one of the bricks would fall out of the basket and I’d have 99% completion. I replayed one boss level ten times before accepting that no matter which pins I pulled in what order, one brick was gonna fall out and I’d fail the level. What’s the point of even trying? And in order to replay the boss level, you have to watch AN AD. (That’s also the case if you want to replay most normal levels. I’ve only gotten the option to replay for free twice.) At this point I’m spending more time watching ads than playing the game, and it’s just not worth it anymore. Don’t waste your time. Two stars for nostalgia; it used to be good.

Please fix challenge level 97

Okay, so there are a lot of comments about the ads in this game, and the lack of increasingly difficult levels. Yes, there are a lot of ads. Yes, the levels are pretty easy and start to repeat again. That being said, I have enjoyed this game for what it is. A simple fun easy game of pulling pins. I have played 3,090 levels. I have retrieved every puzzle piece. I’ve unlocked every ball, theme, stick, & trail. I’ve built every house to level 20, and upgraded every area to max. I’ve unlocked all 120 challenge levels and completed them all….except for one. I have one and only one complaint about this app. Challenge level 97 is impossible. You are given 5 moves to complete it, but it can’t be done in less than 6. This is very devastating for my ocd brain to be so close to completing this game in Its entirety, only to see one lone challenge in red with the word “Failed”. Thus the reason for my 3 star rating. Please fix challenge level 97 so that it can be beat, and so others like me won’t lose sleep at night thinking about the one challenge that got away. Thank you.

Popcore games are all the same

The main levels of the game never really increase in challenge, but you have to play them to unlock the challenge levels which are more like the ads for the game you see elsewhere. There are always a ridiculous number of other things you’re “collecting” in this game, puzzle pieces, unlocking different backgrounds, etc and then you have this whole weird side hustle of building these beachfront coin-making investments? Those Max out and then you’re getting lots of coins and have nothing really to spend them on? It just seems like something to make you think this is part of the game but nothing comes of it. My #1 complaint of all popcore games is the RIDICULOUS amount of ads. Won a level that took 5 seconds? ad. Lost a level and want to retry? Retry by watching this ad. Choose not to? Still have to watch an ad. We gave you this prize for completing 5 levels! In order to claim it, you have to watch this ad. The levels take mere seconds to complete, you will spend 5x as much time per level just watching the ad to get to the next level. This is the third popcore game I’ve downloaded and they’re all the same, and it grows boring/old very quickly. I would skip.

Ads Still There!

I paid $2.99 to remove the ads. Yet they are still there when I want to retry the Challenges I failed the first time and when claiming most rewards. It is necessary to claim the rewards in order to advance in the game. Otherwise more Challenges and “Boss” levels cannot be played. The ads can take two minutes or more each! The “Boss” levels and Challenges were the only levels that I found interesting enough to keep playing. Since the game is built on progression, I am forced to play five very simplistic regular levels in order to get to the “Boss” levels and Challenges. At least I was able to eliminate those five ads between each of these levels by paying the $2.99. It has potential to be a great game. If the ads for retrying what to me is the real challenges could be taken out, I would consider paying an additional, abet reasonable cost. I know a company needs revenue to survive, but the abundance of lengthy ads damps my enthusiasm for playing. I have found others comments here both pro and con helpful as I am a fairly new player.

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Business Wire Wed Jun 28 2023

News has broken via multiple LinkedIn posts that Berlin-based developer Popcore is going through a wave of layoffs.

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Rollic, a Zynga subsidiary, announced that it's purchased mobile game developer Popcore. Founded in 2018 by Thomas and Johannes Heinze.

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Sensor Tower Fri Mar 28 2025

Zynga's Rollic hypercasual gaming division has acquired Popcore, an indie mobile game developer based in Germany. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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Die Take Two-Sparte Zynga erweitert das Mobilegames-Portfolio – und �bernimmt zu diesem Zweck das stramm wachsende Studio Popcore aus...

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