To be honest I probably don't like this game. I played it for a while. I think I liked it initially. Like, I like the designs for the cookies and that cookies are generally easy to get and that there are a lot of different modes etc etc.

What I don't like though is like...this game just feels bad to play, kind of in the same way as Shop Titans. This game is really costly. Specifically, doing anything daily requires a lot of resources, and producing anything daily requires a lot of time and sometimes manual management. You want it to feel like Satisfactory, but it will never be Satisfactory. Because the game always wants more, and when you think it's fine it introduces another system which is "rewarding" to then consume more.

You can choose to ignore the idle elements for a time but after a point you're expected to be certain kingdom levels to do certain things, and certain features are locked behind resource-gated areas. I didn't have the ship trade for a LOT longer than I was supposed to because I genuinely just didn't know how to unlock it, and I just assumed it was the story that was holding me back. Not so.

And it sucks because this game is cute and the characters are charming (my faves are Cocoa and Strawberry, for the interested), and I like the idea of a management sim idle game but this game is simply way too predatory and doesn't give nearly the dopamine hit to make up for what it takes away.

Finn being the mc is kinda cool though

The concept of the world and the characters is cute. I usually like playing idle games only during school/university semesters, so I did not invest as much time in it. Initially did not care about the gacha, but upon returning to it recently after a year (or so) of not playing, it has gotten worse.
Game gets more P2W as you keep playing and demands more resources for daily managing than what I'm usually comfortable with in an idle game. Don't think I will ever start actively playing it again, but it is okay for a mobile game.

Look, this game is fun, yes; it looks cool, it sounds great, the stories are fun to read, and the character designs are top-notch. But it gets more and more p2w the longer you go on, ESPECIALLY now with the new Beascuits addition and the like (and the Tower's back but now it's unforgivingly difficult! Even for Tray 1? What's this? One of the recommended Cookies is the recently-released legend? GEE willy whiskers, I wonder what that entails!)

I have inmense stockholm syndrome with this game but like, I gotta drop it sooner or later. 3/5: One of those games where it looks super nice but the gameplay is commendable at best.

A really fun game with a great sense of progression until a brick wall comes out of nowhere stopping all forward progress. The game is challenging but manageable up until this point. This forces players to either grind a lot or pay up to roll for better characters. For a hard stage before this, it would be a very minor grind to overcome it. Past the brick wall, every level takes hours to grind for. Everything up until this point is phenomenal however with great pacing and decent gameplay. The gacha isn't too egregious either.

Look I'm gonna be real for a second. This game is like if Genshin Impact had POC characters, and that really sucks when you realize that this is a game about cookies.
The worst thing about being caught in its gacha trap for two years (I left this game a year ago already) was the fact that the art and world of this game have deeply impacted my autism circuits. Not a joke, this franchise (kingdom especially) has some of my favorite art direction of any mobile game ever, and I am deeply inspired by it. I could never download this game again because of what it does to me but I could never let it go because of how it changed me.

I have a gambling addiction now