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How Block Blast harvests its players for ad money (ayoships.com)
submitted 1 day ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[+] -13 points 1 day ago (7 children)

I never use 'revives' and I hardly ever see an ad. Yes, it gets quite hard when you get to your high score, that's the time to take a break. I usually get excited and power through and choke. It's important to keep the field clear and place stuff in the middle when you can. Maybe this guy just sucks at Block Blast?

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  • [–] 19 points 1 day ago (6 children)

    This guy unpacked the code to show that once you're 1000 points past your high score the game has an increasingly higher chance of being impossible. Not "quite hard", but literally unable to win. There's a good little interactive sample of how the game builds the impossible hands that it then serves.

    Your note on "time to take a break" is funny to read, because the game accounts for this, too.

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  • [+] -7 points 1 day ago* (5 children)

    Increasingly higher doesn't mean impossible though. If your field isn't scattered and you're busting lines every deal you can keep going. As soon as you mess up a couple times they'll screw you. The strategy does change once you've reached your high score. I think careful placement beats line-every-time at that point.

    I find taking a break to be better mentally, because you've been working towards a goal and get there and then I get rammy and overconfident. 20 minute sessions max.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 day ago (4 children)

    The article explains that these death deals are in fact impossible, though. There's even a test board for you to try.

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  • [+] -8 points 1 day ago (3 children)

    I guess I misunderstood the test board because I beat it or something.

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  • [–] 8 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

    It's "5 of 5" on the test board, and the page plays it for you and shows you the what's happening. It's fine if you like this game, but this article is about the aggressive practices to maximize ad revenue.

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  • [–] -3 points 23 hours ago (1 child)

    I get it, and it does play dirty tricks and will stiff you. But you can keep the algorithm at bay, until you dirty up the board. You see a lot less ads when you're good. I'd guess I see one ad per 5 sessions and it's almost always a "trial game" thing.

    Here are times I beat the 10% mark

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