Life of Mellow
- August 31, 2021
- MondayOFF
- 2h median play time
"Life of Mellow" is a single-player simulation game with a focus on farming, survival, and building. Players must collect resources, craft and build in order to expand their village while surviving through four seasons. Despite some bugs, the game offers delightful graphics and stellar gameplay for those who enjoy micromanaging and building their own mellow village.
Reviews
- Cute graphics and engaging gameplay.
- Fun and challenging resource management mechanics.
- Good concept with potential for expansion.
- Game is riddled with bugs and glitches, causing mellows to get stuck and not perform tasks.
- Progress often resets or is lost, leading to frustration.
- Many essential features and buildings are locked behind a paywall, making it difficult to progress without spending money.
- monetization607 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 4 % neutral mentions
- 91 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players expressing frustration over the abundance of ads and in-app purchases. While some appreciate the option to watch ads for bonuses, the constant presence of audio ads and the necessity to pay for essential content, such as DLCs, have led to a perception of the game as a "cash grab." Overall, players feel that the reliance on ads and microtransactions detracts from the gameplay experience, making it difficult to progress without spending money or watching numerous ads.
“Has tons of microtransactions but you can still play without them.”
“In-game purchases are optional for play.”
“It's fun, no ads, and it's mobile.”
“But, when it becomes winter and your weapons break, it seems impossible to do anything without having to pay for in-app purchases.”
“The game requires you to pay money or watch long ads to advance; half the time the ads crash the game after they are done playing, so you don't get any credit for them.”
“It's impossible to play without spending money or watching tons of ads.”
- stability293 mentions
- 1 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 99 % negative mentions
The game is frequently criticized for its instability, with users reporting numerous glitches, freezes, and crashes that disrupt gameplay and lead to lost progress. While many players appreciate the game's concept and potential, the overwhelming presence of bugs significantly detracts from the overall experience, making it frustrating and often unplayable. Despite some positive feedback, the consensus is that substantial improvements are needed to address these stability issues.
“It is a fun game with no glitches and no problems with the ads; not many bad things to say about this game.”
“Amazing! Best game I've ever played; no glitches at all.”
“The game is buggy; in many cases, the characters just stop doing what they're assigned to do, and I'm not talking about tools breaking or anything.”
“The game starts out fun, but after a while, the glitches really ruin the experience.”
“The game is a cute concept, but it's so buggy it's unplayable, and the balance of this game is really off.”
- gameplay113 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is generally described as fun and intuitive, with enjoyable mechanics reminiscent of titles like The Sims and Lemmings. However, many players express frustration over essential content being locked behind a paywall, leading to a feeling of incompleteness and repetitiveness. Additionally, issues such as bugs, lack of tutorials, and frequent ads detract from the overall experience, leaving players divided on its potential and enjoyment.
“The art and gameplay are really nice though.”
“Life of Mellow is a relatively simple game, but the gameplay is both idle and active when you want it to be, and it's really fun to kind of carve your own city.”
“I think this game is extremely fun and has many features; however, a common problem I have is that the game crashes and runs slow and sometimes doesn't save what I have done. Overall, the game concept is very good; however, the mechanics are rather difficult.”
“Honestly not even half a game without the DLC, which sucks because I enjoy the mechanics and gameplay, but to be forced to pay another 6 bucks to actually have more than like 3 buildings.”
“The game has potential, but the gameplay is terrible.”
“No tutorial, but requires you to watch tons of YouTube videos as the tutorial, ads every couple of seconds, and immediately you are met with more microtransactions than gameplay. This game is not worth my time nor yours.”
- graphics86 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their cute and appealing art style, with many users highlighting the smoothness and charm of the visuals. However, some players have reported issues such as lag, glitches, and the need for better performance options, which detracts from the overall experience. While the graphics are a strong point, concerns about ads and gameplay mechanics overshadow their positive reception.
“The graphical style is really lovely.”
“The art style is great!”
“I absolutely love the graphics!”
“I would give it 3 stars for now, I know it's a new game but there's no tutorial. I took 5 minutes just to know how to make them work and sometimes it just crashes randomly. It doesn't have auto-save, so I have to start over from the very beginning. And lastly, when you're out of resources, it's the end of the game... and the graphics like that?”
“This game is really fun, but when I launch it, my phone starts overheating. I think if the creators reduce the graphics, this problem will be fixed.”
“Laggy graphics, no in-game tutorial.”
- grinding29 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, often requiring micromanagement of resources and tasks that can lead to frustration, especially due to numerous bugs and glitches. Many express a desire for more automation features to streamline processes, as the current system demands constant attention and manual intervention. While some enjoy the game's premise and find it fun, the overall sentiment leans towards it being a grind-heavy experience that can feel overwhelming and close to pay-to-win mechanics.
“Micro-managing every building is tedious.”
“You get to a point where you are practically just farming resources to keep up with your tool production.”
“Game is way too tedious... 20 planks to build a farm and you have to request each plank to be built.”
- story29 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally perceived as lacking depth and motivation, with many players expressing a desire for a more developed narrative and structured missions. While some enjoy the premise and find the gameplay enjoyable, the absence of a compelling storyline and the reliance on paywalls for progression detract from the overall experience. Players suggest that adding quests or a campaign mode could enhance engagement and provide a clearer sense of direction.
“I really like the plot of the game and the challenge, but I really wish it didn't take 2 seasons to make 3 houses. Please make it have faster building.”
“One of the best games I've ever played! I love how it's kind of like the Thanksgiving story.”
“Good game, but it needs a bit more of a story or explanation.”
“There isn't much drive or story to the game once you get a stabilized village going.”
“There's no end point to the game, no growth motivation, no challenges or story.”
“Add some storyline or campaign that will show that there's endgame somewhere; this will motivate people to buy DLC.”
- music27 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally appreciated for its relaxing and enjoyable quality, contributing positively to the overall experience. However, many players express frustration with intrusive audio ads that interrupt the music, making it difficult to enjoy both the game and their own playlists. Additionally, there are requests for better audio controls, such as the ability to mute the music without disabling all sound effects.
“Beautiful graphics, relaxing music and just enough of a challenge to keep it interesting.”
“I like the music and the game is easy to play.”
“The only redeeming quality of this game is the marshmallow characters' designs, and the music.”
“I understand this is a free game and the developers get revenue from ads, but it's really frustrating when the ad banner at the bottom interrupts my music just to run the ad. I don't mind seeing the ads at the bottom of the screen; I just don't want to hear them unless I choose to do so.”
“The real problem is the ad banner at the bottom that you can't mute, which makes it impossible to listen to anything else, including in-game music.”
“The ads are annoying just because they have audio, and you have to pay to remove them, so my music is constantly being paused.”
- optimization19 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 32 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to performance lags, particularly as player progress increases. Users report frequent bugs, poor AI behavior, and a lack of options to adjust graphics settings, all contributing to a frustrating experience. Overall, while the game has potential, it requires urgent optimization improvements to enhance gameplay stability and performance.
“The game is good, but needs optimization; it starts getting very laggy after you have a good amount of mellows.”
“This game is very nice and fun; the only problem is the optimization is rendering everything, and I'm on a pretty good phone.”
“Past season 25, it gets glitchy and everyone starts dying due to said glitches; it's unfinished and needs to be optimized.”
“The game needs better optimization and also needs bug fixing.”
“But there's a large issue that bothers me; this game has terrible performance.”
“The game is good, but the performance is horrible. Hope it gets fixed soon.”
- humor15 mentions
- 93 % positive mentions
- -13 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The game is generally perceived as humorous, featuring funny graphics and quirky elements that contribute to its charm. However, players also note that technical glitches can detract from the experience, and some feel that monetization aspects overshadow the fun. Overall, while the humor is a highlight, it is accompanied by challenges that can frustrate players.
“The game is funny and time killing.”
“It's a funny game, but there are problems like you can't craft the cart in the smith building.”
“I love it 😁 just one thing and it's a funny story: I fell asleep with the game on and all my mellows died just from me sleeping lol.”
“It's not funny to put your game tutorial on YouTube.”
“The jokes feel forced and often miss the mark.”
“I expected more clever humor, but it mostly fell flat.”
- replayability5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is considered cute and fun, but it suffers from low replayability due to limited content and mechanics. Many users express a desire for additional features and upgrades to enhance long-term engagement, while some content is locked behind a paywall, further impacting replay value.
“It is a cute game with great potential if the devs are willing to work on a few extra mechanics to make it more playable later on.”
“It's a very cute and fun game but has very small replayability, and half the game is behind a paywall; other than that, it's a fun game for being free.”
“Due to low replayability, don't expect much.”
“Could really use more playable content and upgrades to get away from the micromanagement needed to keep all the mellows working.”
“Good game, but could use some more features and replayability.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a strong emotional connection to the characters, which is heightened by the frustration of witnessing their deaths due to AI issues. Despite these challenges, the game's overall impact is profound, leading to a mix of admiration and emotional turmoil.
“Best game ever, but Mellow can die, which is really emotional for me. I'm struggling with those feelings, but this is still the best game.”