iAssociate 3

I was initially delighted to see that there was still a version of iAssociate available. iAssociate 2 is one of my all-time favorite games. When they stopped releasing new levels for it, I was disappointed. Unfortunately, iAssociate 3 is a sad, microtransaction-riddled, error-laden, dumbed-down piece of garbage. Instead of just letting you guess the words directly, it’s combined gameplay with another old Ticbits game, Word Strike, providing you with a selection of letters to choose from. (The daily challenge appears to be straight Word Strike, using four-word clues instead of associations.) This makes the game too much easier, in my view. The worst change is how you open levels. In iAssociate 2, you simply bought level packs outright, and unlocked new levels with the keys you got from completing the previous level. In version 3, you still need and get the keys, but you also have to either wait an amount of time that increases as levels get harder, or spend gems to open them immediately. You get gems when you complete a level, but not fast enough to open all levels without waiting. The idea, obviously, is to encourage the player to spend money on gems. This proliferation of in-game currencies being needed to advance through a game has absolutely ruined far too many puzzle games. I have no objection to purchasing level packs or puzzle packs. I do object to being pushed into spending additional money or forced to wait for arbitrary amounts of time to keep playing levels I otherwise have already paid for. I want the puzzle challenge, not the stupid ancillary gamification. And as for errors, the puzzles are filled with them. This may be the most frustrating part of all. The errors range from simple obvious typos (ALWAYS PROOFREAD EVERYTHING when you’re making word puzzles!) to sometimes-significant errors of fact. (For example, in one puzzle I just completed, a clue linked to “Hulk” asked for the character played by Bill Bixby in the ‘70s TV show. It was also linked to “Bruce”, indicating that the answer being sought was the name of Hulk’s human alter ego in the comics (and MCU), Bruce Banner. But in the show (and in this show alone, of all productions featuring The Hulk), the name was changed to David Banner, making the provided clue blatantly incorrect.) Repetition is also everywhere in this game. Certain link chains seem to pop up in almost every puzzle. If you get “cat”, it’s absolutely certain that it will link to “dog”, which then almost always leads to “boxer” and then something else related to the sport of boxing. “Berry” always leads to “Halle Berry” which always leads to “Storm”. Knowing that half the words in any given level are going to be connected in the same links as in already-completed levels makes the game less challenging and less interesting. I’ll grant that this was common in previous versions as well, but here it’s one more annoyance on top of several others. Finally, it’s clear that the game has been completely abandoned by the developers. If you follow the link her in the App Store for support, you are sent to the developer’s web site, which not only has no links for support for any of their games, but also does not list iAssociate as one of their titles. Emails sent to the only email address I found on the site have so far gone unanswered. This is, in my view, the worst offense a developer can commit: failure to acknowledge feedback and support requests. Setting up an autoreply for support emails is trivial; if you can’t be bothered to do even that little bit, you have no business asking people to give you money for anything related to your software. I sorely miss the old Ticbits company. I have several of their games still installed, passed down from device to device via the old iTunes library on my Mac (from before Apple stopped letting you archive iOS apps on a Mac), and I will keep them as long as they are playable. Sadly, as there are no more puzzles for iAssociate 2, once you’ve finished all the ones that were released, you’re done. It appears that iAssociate 3 will suffer the same fate, as the lack of development (no updates in the last five years) and lack of developer response to email dooms this game to the abandonware void. If you’re a fan of the first or second versions of iAssociate, DO NOT download this one. You WILL be disappointed.

QuantumpandaFri, May 3, 2024

United States

I don’t like timers or that it gives you letters to select from. Not the same.

Waldo4288Wed, Apr 24, 2024

United States

I was initially delighted to see that there was still a version of iAssociate available. iAssociate 2 is one of my all-time favorite games. When they stopped releasing new levels for it, I was disappointed. Unfortunately, iAssociate 3 is a sad, microtransaction-riddled, dumbed-down piece of garbage. Instead of just letting you guess the words directly, it’s combined gameplay with another old Ticbits game, Word Strike, providing you with a selection of letters to choose from. (The daily challenge appears to be straight Word Strike, using four-word clues instead of associations.) This makes the game too much easier, in my view. The worst change is how you open levels. In iAssociate 2, you simply bought level packs outright, and unlocked new levels with the keys you got from completing the previous level. In version 3, you still need and get the keys, but you also have to either wait an amount of time that increases as levels get harder, or spend gems to open them immediately. You get gems when you complete a level, but not fast enough to open all levels without waiting. The idea, obviously, is to encourage the player to spend money on gems. This proliferation of in-game currencies being needed to advance through a game has absolutely ruined far too many puzzle games. I have no objection to purchasing level packs or puzzle packs. I do object to being pushed into spending additional money or forced to wait for arbitrary amounts of time to keep playing levels I otherwise have already paid for. I want the puzzle challenge, not the stupid ancillary gamification. If you’re a fan of the first or second versions of iAssociate, DO NOT download this one. You WILL be disappointed.

QuantumpandaSat, Apr 13, 2024

United States

This iassociate3 gives too many ways to solve. The first iassociate game was clever and original. It really made you think and even made you go away and come back later to look at the puzzle from another angle. This current version should be labelled iassociate jr as I believe it was created with a much younger audience in mind.

AuraindiaTue, Feb 13, 2024

United States

I played I-Associate 2 and love the difficulty this new style is far too easy and has taken the challenge and fun out of the original. Please go back to the old format

The_Todd_FatherWed, Jan 10, 2024

United States

Ads, keys, unlocking things. This game is now boring and pointless. Not challenging and a waste of time.

Lyndie HopSun, Dec 24, 2023

United States

Love the game, but there are spelling errors in the game for some answers. Also, I completed some levels, but it is shown to be 99.9% complete.

TykTakAttackSat, Nov 11, 2023

United States