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You Must Build A Boat

You Must Build A Boat Game Cover
87%Game Brain Score
gameplay, monetization
grinding, stability
87% User Score Based on 1,100 reviews

Platforms

TabletPhoneiPadMobile PlatformiPhone
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You Must Build A Boat Game Cover

About

You Must Build A Boat is a single player casual role playing game. It was developed by EightyEight Games and was released on June 4, 2015. It received positive reviews from players.

"You Must Build A Boat" is a critically acclaimed mobile game that combines match-three puzzle mechanics with an endless runner style. The objective is to build a boat by matching tiles and collecting resources, all while navigating through a variety of challenges and enemies. With its addictive gameplay and high replayability, players are tasked to build and upgrade their boat while managed resources and making quick decisions. The game offers a unique and engaging experience that is hard to put down.

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Play Modes
You Must Build A Boat screenshot
You Must Build A Boat screenshot
You Must Build A Boat screenshot
You Must Build A Boat screenshot
You Must Build A Boat screenshot
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87%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,100 reviews
gameplay38 positive mentions
grinding15 negative mentions
  • Fast-paced and enjoyable gameplay with a sense of progression as players build their boat.
  • No microtransactions or ads, allowing for a pure gaming experience.
  • Charming pixel art and engaging soundtrack enhance the overall experience.
  • Game can feel overly reliant on RNG, leading to frustrating moments where players lose due to bad luck.
  • Some design choices, such as the inability to skip cutscenes and the pacing of gameplay, can detract from the experience.
  • Lack of cloud saving and occasional bugs can lead to lost progress and frustration.
  • gameplay
    80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is characterized by fast-paced, addictive match-3 mechanics combined with RPG elements, offering a satisfying sense of progression and strategic depth. While many players appreciate the engaging design and unique features, some criticize the overwhelming number of mechanics, occasional lag, and frustrating cutscenes that disrupt the flow. Overall, the game successfully blends simplicity with complexity, making it enjoyable for both casual and dedicated players, despite some design flaws.

    • “Very enjoyable, fast-paced with simple mechanics, and a nice sense of progression as your boat takes shape.”
    • “Quick-paced, intuitive design that pushes you to choose the right combo, and upgrading your in-game stats or adding a monster to your crew in between runs, while strengthening your ship, hits a sweet gameplay and reward loop that has me hooked.”
    • “Addictive and immensely fun blend of RPG elements with match-3 gameplay.”
    • “The game is riddled with strange design choices and unfair mechanics.”
    • “This game is flooded with mechanics that are overwhelming for new players.”
    • “There is no way to skip any of the enormous amount of completely unnecessary scenes or dialog, and it honestly feels like I am waiting more than I am playing because there are so many, and the amount of time some are repeated.”
  • monetization
    49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is praised for its straightforward monetization model, featuring no microtransactions or ads, allowing players to enjoy the experience without interruptions or additional costs. Reviewers appreciate the return to a more traditional gaming style, where a one-time purchase grants full access to the game, making it a refreshing alternative to the prevalent ad-filled and pay-to-win models in modern mobile games. Overall, players find the absence of exploitative monetization practices to be a significant positive aspect of the game.

    • “No microtransactions, no ads, just jump right into the game and have fun.”
    • “It's also a proper game that costs a few dollars upfront but with no greedy microtransactions or 'pay-to-win' nonsense.”
    • “No ads, no pay to win.”
    • “Reminds me of the older style of mobile games -- before everything got stuffed with ads and unlock fees.”
    • “So many games are filled with ads and 4 different types of bogus currencies.”
    • “Would much rather pay 3 bucks for a good game rather than a 'free' game that restricts you unless you pay for microtransactions.”
  • story
    45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it engaging and fun, while others criticize it as nonsensical and lacking depth. Many users appreciate the variety of quests and gameplay mechanics, but express frustration over the reliance on luck and the difficulty of certain tasks, which can detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the game offers a compelling match-3 RPG experience, the narrative elements could benefit from more coherence and development.

    • “Very compelling and replayable match game with story elements - play it daily!”
    • “Super game design, nice storytelling, addictive game.”
    • “Takes the core concept of match-3 RPG and adds story and characters successfully.”
    • “The 'story' is very stupid though, would be great to have at least a bit of a story that makes any sense.”
    • “The gameplay is okay, but the upgrades feel almost useless and the quests are aggravating.”
    • “The only problem I see is that the game's quests are really just random chance occurrences.”
  • graphics
    31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are characterized by a charming retro pixel art style that many players appreciate, evoking nostalgia for classic gaming. While some users enjoy the aesthetic and find it complements the gameplay, others report issues such as graphical glitches and unclear visuals on certain devices. Overall, the graphics are seen as a mixed bag, with a blend of fun design and technical shortcomings that can detract from the experience.

    • “Lovely pixel art style, upbeat music, challenging gameplay, fun progression, and just a simple, efficient game.”
    • “Cool retro graphics and sound, addictive matching and leveling up, and most importantly, no microtransactions!”
    • “Fun quests, nice retro inspired visuals, and good sound effects.”
    • “I like the gameplay, but I'm not sure why the graphics are messed up.”
    • “However, the graphics for this game are really blah, so much so that sometimes I have trouble figuring out what those blobs of pixels are supposed to represent, and there are lots of them.”
    • “Dull graphics, incredibly repetitive, and no real replay value.”
  • music
    31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its catchy, retro-inspired soundtrack that enhances the overall experience, evoking nostalgia for classic gaming. However, some players express a desire for more variety, as the repetition of tracks can become monotonous. Overall, the combination of engaging gameplay and a delightful soundtrack contributes significantly to the game's appeal.

    • “Relatively unique, addicting game with great music and personality.”
    • “Super catchy soundtrack.”
    • “The fast, addictive gameplay, the pixel design, and soundtrack are all stellar.”
    • “I wish the game had some more music tracks; listening to the same song every time gets a little boring.”
    • “Also disables music if you switch apps and switch back.”
    • “When I'm listening to music and I open the app, it lowers the volume of my music and it comes back up when I close the app.”
  • replayability
    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The reviews on replayability are mixed, with some players praising the game for its addictive gameplay and progression systems that enhance replay value, while others express disappointment over its short length and lack of additional content or achievements. Many highlight the potential for replayability through increased difficulty and engaging mechanics, but some feel that the game ultimately falls short in providing lasting motivation to return. Overall, the consensus suggests that while there are elements that encourage replay, the experience may not be sufficient for all players.

    • “Endlessly entertaining, infinitely replayable.”
    • “Charming, cheap, infinitely replayable.”
    • “Playable in short rounds, but contains plenty of content and endless replayability.”
    • “But I'm disappointed at the short length and lack of replayability.”
    • “No replayability after that; they should add more achievements, and then I would give it 5 stars so I had more reason to play this more.”
    • “Dull graphics, incredibly repetitive, and no real replay value.”
  • grinding
    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often describing it as overly repetitive and reliant on luck. While some express a sense of addiction despite the grind, many feel that the small incremental upgrades and the sheer volume of tasks required lead to a grindy experience that detracts from enjoyment. The difficulty and necessity for constant grinding have led to mixed feelings, with some players feeling overwhelmed and others still drawn in by the gameplay.

    • “Though it is not quite as fun as the original, I believe this is because there are simply too many kinds of objects to match now; matches are more tedious and you often have screens where one cannot match anything.”
    • “Beating this game requires tons of grinding.”
    • “The borderline unfair difficulty and the amount of grinding necessary to progress make the experience frustrating.”
  • stability
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting significant bugs and glitches, particularly during spell use and on certain devices. However, many users note that recent updates have addressed previous issues, leading to a more polished experience for most. Overall, while some minor graphical glitches persist, many players find the game to be stable and enjoyable.

    • “Overall just a well-polished game (virtually no glitches or issues I've encountered) with addicting, high-speed matching gameplay and RPG elements (buying upgrades for your character).”
    • “Well worth the price, amazing gameplay, better than 10000000 and no glitches!”
    • “Bug free!”
    • “Fantastic game idea but unfortunately it's riddled with bugs and glitches.”
    • “Okay but the game freezes for players when using spells/items, but in-game time still goes, which makes using them a punishment, not a reward.”
    • “Only reason for 4 stars is that it freezes/deadlocks sometimes.”
  • humor
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely praised for its quirky and goofy nature, contributing to an engaging and enjoyable experience. Players appreciate the balance of humor with serious gameplay elements, noting that the funny animations and fast-paced interactions enhance the overall fun. Overall, the game's humor is a standout feature that captivates and entertains players.

    • “It's otherwise fun and compelling, with a quirky sense of humor.”
    • “This is a great, funny little game, I'm completely enthralled with it.”
    • “Humor is awesome in this game!”
  • optimization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's recent update has successfully addressed various performance issues, particularly improving optimization for Note 4 devices. Overall, users have noted enhanced performance following these adjustments.

    • “Recently updated to address some performance issues.”
    • “They fixed performance in note 4.”
  • emotional
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    While the game successfully evokes strong emotions in many areas, the broken combat and exploration mechanics can lead to frustration, detracting from the overall emotional experience.

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7h Median play time
338h Average play time
7h Main story
21h Completionist
6-1000h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

You Must Build A Boat is a casual role playing game.

You Must Build A Boat is available on Phone, iPad, iPhone, Tablet and others.

The main story can be completed in around 7 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 21 hours to finish. On average players spend around 338 hours playing You Must Build A Boat.

You Must Build A Boat was released on June 4, 2015.

You Must Build A Boat was developed by EightyEight Games.

You Must Build A Boat has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

You Must Build A Boat is a single player game.

Similar games include 10000000, You Must Build A Boat, Dungeon Maker, Kingdom Rush Frontiers TD, Hoplite and others.