Coin Dozer review

Note:  This is a review I originally posted on Epinions.

One of the reasons I wanted an iPod Touch rather than a classic model was so that I could get apps.  Sure, I’d get something useful like the ones for the Post Office or Bank of America.  However, most of them would be games.  One of the first games I got was the free version of Coin Dozer.

It’s based on the game you may have seen at a county fair or arcade.  You’re given a set number of coins that you can drop in an area.  Those coins are pushed onto a lower platform that has a lot more coins.  To the left, right and front are pits.  Any coins that go to the left or right are lost.  You get back any that go into the front pit.  If you run out of coins, you get more coins just for waiting.

The coins regenerate faster if you leave the app open, but you can close the app and have the coins regenerate that way.  Either way, you have a limit.  If you are at or above that limit, there’s no regeneration.  If you are below the limit, coins will regenerate up to that limit.  The limit does go up as you play the game.

There are also special coins.  If you get a red coin, a giant coin drops, causing everything to bounce.  Light-blue coins give you coin walls to the left and right.  Dark-blue coins give you a shower of coins.  Silver coins give you a few extra coins in your reserve.  There are also XP coins, which help you advance to the next level.  (Each level gives you one of a rotation of prizes, like a red or blue coin.)

You also have prizes like bears and sunglasses.  Each of these prizes do something if you get a set of four different colors.  Bears make the coins regenerate faster.  Umbrellas give you more coins in the showers.  As you might expect, prizes and special coins that go over the left or right side are generally lost unless you get a set of whistles.  The first set of whistles you get allows you to keep the prizes that fall off the sides.  Subsequent tiers, up to nine, allow for a chance of getting the special coins.  (You start off with a maximum of six tiers, but you can upgrade to nine.)

I should probably also mention there are puzzle pieces that fall down.  I have no idea what these do other than give you something else to work towards.  I’ve completed one and I think I got some points or something.  I don’t remember.

As you might expect, prizes and coins aren’t really worth anything.  It’s not like you can cash out or will get anything special if you get all the toys.  It’s mostly fun as a distraction.  If I need a way to waste a few minutes, I will sometimes open the app and play.  I have to admit that it was more fun when I was below the coin limit.  It got to the point with the free version that I had over 13,000 coins.  I think the regeneration limit was 70 or something.

I had the opportunity to get the pro version for free, which is the same thing minus the ads at the bottom.  It’s not a huge difference, but it at least let me start over. I’m above 800 coins and it doesn’t look like I’ll be losing any.  It surprises me that it’s so easy to accumulate coins since you can buy coins as an in-app purchase.  You’d think there would be some sort of upper limit or something.

I can’t say I regret downloading either.  I used to play a lot when I first downloaded the free version.  Not so much anymore, though.  The only real fun is trying to get special coins in combination, which is frustrating since the coins tend to go sideways.

If you can get it for free, give it a try.  There are occasionally glitches, but the games update often and problems are taken care of almost immediately.  I’ve seen other versions, like Coin Dozer: World Tour and a Halloween version.  The only difference seems to be the types of prizes and the designs of the coins.  I had these, but I got rid of them.  It got to be too much.  Why do I need four versions of the same game?