Knights of Pen and Paper 3

About

"Knights of Pen and Paper 3" is a single-player role playing game that offers compelling gameplay filled with humor, grinding, and a few bugs. Immerse yourself in the pixelated world of RPG mayhem and super fun, but be prepared for occasional interruptions from ads. The game describes itself as an adventure of pixels, mayhem, and super fun, fitting the lighthearted and humorous tone of the game.

Genres & Tags

Role Playing

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

58%

Audience ScoreBased on 914 reviews

story13 positive mentions

monetization57 negative mentions

The game preserves the charming 8-bit atmosphere of its predecessors while improving graphics and animations.
The humor, jokes, and references are well-executed, maintaining the series' signature style.
The ability to unlock everything through gameplay feels gamer-friendly, allowing for grinding without mandatory purchases.

The game suffers from significant balance issues, with enemies often being disproportionately powerful compared to player characters.
There are numerous bugs, including issues with quests not completing and items not functioning as intended.
The monetization model is heavily criticized, with many players feeling pressured to spend money to progress effectively.

story
139 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
86%
5%
The game's story is described as engaging but ultimately basic and repetitive, lacking the depth and customization of its predecessors. Players express frustration with misleading quest difficulties, excessive grinding, and bugs that hinder progress, leading to a sense of imbalance and dissatisfaction with the overall narrative experience. While some appreciate the improved graphics and quest storylines, many feel that the focus on monetization and grind detracts from the enjoyment of the story.
- “Minus some slight spelling or punctuation mistakes, the story is engaging.”
- “Good, silly story.”
- “Loving the story and quest.”
- “The story is painfully basic.”
- “Feels very lazy, the visuals carry the game and that's it, the enemies are just sponges that take way too long to defeat and quests are tedious and annoying.”
- “This game came out on computer not finished (half the map you can't go to, some classes unobtainable, and the story just stops) for 20 dollars got overwhelmingly negative reviews.”
monetization
87 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
24%
66%
The monetization model of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players labeling it a "cash grab" due to aggressive microtransactions and excessive ads. While some users appreciate the option to watch ads for rewards, the overall sentiment is that the game is overly reliant on monetization, making progression feel grindy and frustrating without spending money. Many players expressed a desire for a paid option to remove ads and reduce the reliance on in-game purchases for essential upgrades and benefits.
- “In-app purchases are fairly priced and not necessary to complete the quests.”
- “The microtransactions really aren't bad for mobile game standards as well.”
- “This is a nice, accessible game with a little bit of monetization options, as all games go by today.”
- “The game is full of bugs and unbalanced until you grind for days compared to the first two, besides the obvious cash grab traps.”
- “As others have said, the monetization is aggressive and they lean way too hard into the 'frustrate you into spending' tactic.”
- “I could write an entire essay about how terrible this game is, but my main gripe is with the wildly unbalanced economy that is very clearly designed to make people buy microtransactions.”
grinding
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
98%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and frustrating, often feeling that it detracts from the overall enjoyment. Many reviews highlight a steep difficulty curve that forces players to grind for extended periods to progress, with some expressing disappointment over the reliance on microtransactions to alleviate the grind. While some appreciate the ability to earn rewards through gameplay, the overwhelming sentiment is that the game is designed to encourage spending money rather than providing a satisfying grinding experience.
- “The game doesn't seem as predatory in terms of pay-to-win as the last one was, with you being able to get 25 gems on a daily basis, and the coins aren't too grindy to get either.”
- “I appreciate that the grinding in this game feels rewarding, allowing me to progress without feeling overwhelmed.”
- “The balance of grinding for resources is well done, making it enjoyable to level up my character without it feeling like a chore.”
- “Spent days grinding up to level 25, finally beat that battle - immediately thrown into the next battle which is listed as lower difficulty where the enemies tear me to shreds.”
- “Extremely disappointing - I wanted to love this game but I'm not willing to drive myself nuts grinding for nothing.”
- “The game is designed to make you pay money; after level 5, the game becomes too grindy to progress without paying for it.”
gameplay
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
57%
9%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the new mechanics and town-building features, while others criticize the repetitive quests, unbalanced combat, and reliance on microtransactions. Many find the gameplay enjoyable at first but feel it becomes tedious due to grinding and lack of engaging content. Overall, while there are elements of fun and potential, the implementation of pay-to-win mechanics and frustrating design choices detract from the overall experience.
- “Rework of items, new level up mechanics, building, and the ability to unlock everything by playing (even grinding) still feels gamer-friendly.”
- “It has really great gameplay, not heavy-handed with microtransactions.”
- “Fun and great gameplay!”
- “Only being able to pick average Joe/Jane at the beginning does not match well with not being able to make duplicate classes, not having any sort of respec mechanic, and having to unlock different players.”
- “Sadly it sucks, the combat is slow and boring, you have to grind pretty much from level one, the abilities and classes are boring and mostly useless (maybe the classes you unlock later on are better, I didn't get that far) but the base gameplay is just plain and simply bad.”
- “The travel menu is a laggy mess, enemy balancing is laughable, they decided it'd be better to throw all the charms and mechanics of the older games in the bin.”
graphics
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
70%
9%
The graphics in the game have received generally positive feedback, with many users noting significant improvements in animation and overall visual quality compared to previous installments. The art style is appreciated for its modernized yet nostalgic 8-bit atmosphere, although some players feel that the gameplay mechanics and story elements have not evolved as much. While the visuals are praised, there are mixed opinions on their impact on gameplay, with some users expressing concerns about pacing and engagement.
- “Deva managed to preserve the 8-bit atmosphere while improving the animation and graphics, making it feel more modern.”
- “Awesome graphics, easy controls, very user-friendly.”
- “Absolutely love the graphics and music.”
- “The graphics are improved, as are the quest storylines, but the one big problem virtually everyone had with the previous games shows little-to-no improvement.”
- “Other than the graphics, the game is barely playable.”
- “Feels very lazy, the visuals carry the game and that's it, the enemies are just sponges that take way too long to defeat and quests are tedious and annoying.”
stability
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent freezes, bugs that prevent quest completion, and problems with item functionality. Players report that the game often requires restarts due to these glitches, which detracts from the overall experience. While some users express hope for future improvements, the current state is described as a "buggy mess" that hampers gameplay.
- “Anytime you move to a new location, regardless of a safe travel or ambush, the game freezes and forces you to close the game and reload it.”
- “I can't log in; every time I try, it just goes back to the screen. If you try to rest twice in a row in the dungeon, the game freezes, and it keeps saying I've unlocked achievements, but I don't get the items, gold, or XP, and it says I currently have 0 on my player profile.”
- “Buggy game; there comes a point where you can't even claim achievements and can't progress with the main game.”
humor
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a mix of well-crafted jokes and self-aware references that resonate with fans of the genre, though some find it repetitive and cliché. While many players appreciate the lighthearted and silly tone, others criticize it for being inconsistent and overshadowed by gameplay issues. Overall, the humor adds to the enjoyment for some, but leaves others feeling underwhelmed.
- “Jokes, references, and humor are also on the level.”
- “The game so far is really good and funny; it has plenty of options for things to do and makes the game more enjoyable to play with all the different characters.”
- “Another funny and aware game that's not only fun but truly challenges you in the best way with lots of great additions; obviously, it's worth your time.”
optimization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
29%
57%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, including frequent crashes and poor performance even on low settings, leading to a frustrating experience for many players. Additionally, the restrictions on character customization have been criticized, further detracting from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the need for extensive bug fixes and optimization is a common concern among users.
- “The game also needs optimization and bug fixes.”
- “The reason I took off 2 stars is that, as of the time of writing, the game is riddled with bugs and performance issues.”
- “I don't know if it's bad for anyone else, but I have terrible performance issues and crashes even on the lowest traffic settings, which is a bummer. Plus, the change to having much more restrictions when making your characters at the beginning of the game kind of blows, as I really liked the customization in the past two games.”
- “I'd give a more in-depth review if this game didn't have such monumental performance issues; it crashed on me twice now and takes forever to start up.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
43%
The music in the game is widely praised, with many users highlighting its quality, particularly the battle themes. Players appreciate how the soundtrack enhances the overall experience, expressing a desire for the original soundtrack to be available on platforms like Spotify. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that complements the game's visuals and storytelling.
- “The music is great too, especially the battle music.”
- “Absolutely love the graphics and music.”
- “You can enjoy the story and music.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game successfully retains its nostalgic 8-bit atmosphere while enhancing animation and graphics, resulting in a modernized yet familiar experience.
- “Deva managed to preserve the 8-bit atmosphere while improving the animation and graphics, making it feel more modern.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game highly replayable due to its engaging RPG elements, rewarding challenges, and overall fun experience, with many noting the absence of ads as a positive feature.
- “No ads, super fun RPG, rewarding and challenging, replayable; there's nothing bad about this game.”