Faif Combines A Lot Of Disparate Things Into Something Good(-ish) [Review]

Faif is a weird game.

It’s kind of like Bejeweled, only you’re not trying to match anything. And it’s kind of like a role-playing game, except you’re not really on a quest (or are you?). It’s sort of like gambling, but you don’t win anything, and it’s a smidge like a free-to-play game, but you don’t have to pay real money for the in-game currency.

All of these kindas and sortas add up to a unique experience that I think I enjoy, but I’m honestly not sure.

Faif plays as a series of battles against invisible opponents. You have a five-by-six grid of tiles, and you select five adjacent ones each turn. The game then randomly selects one of the five.

Skulls cost you one health point, gems give you money to spend in the in-game store, hearts return hit points, and swords cause damage to your foe in an amount equal to the number of skulls you selected. So if you picked three skulls, a sword, and a heart, and the sword comes up, you’ll do three points of damage to the other player.

I think I enjoy it, but I’m honestly not sure.

You can see the risk/reward wheels turning here, but since it’s all up to chance, the best you can do is load the rolls and hope for the best. You keep fighting until you lose, and your health carries over between bouts. Every five battles, you take on a “boss.”

In the beginning, you’ll end up beating your head against the wall as you grind to level up and increase your odds of outlasting your opponents. And that’s probably where Faif will lose a lot of players because it’ll take a little while before you’re powerful enough to overcome the odds. But if you stick with it, it’ll draw you in and get more fun.

I think? Yeah, I still have no idea.

Game Name: : Faif The Good: It’s an interesting combination of a lot of different game types. The Bad: It takes a while to see meaningful results, and the gambling aspect makes it feel needlessly difficult. The Verdict: Players who value skill over chance will hate it, but it certainly has an audience of exceedingly patient people who will find a lot to like. Buy from: App Store – Faif – Beavl

[rating=game3]