Wizard101

Looking at the number of hours I've played this over the years, obviously I recommend it, but not as a free game. It's fun, it's cute, it's cool, and it's addicting. It's also a greedy money grabbing fiend of an MMO. You cannot do almost anything in W101 without a membership, so prepare at least $10 in advance for a month of play, or you will only be able to explore 0.01% of the content. Luckily, you CAN and even should be able to play without ever needing to purchase crowns, but if you want to buy almost anything extra, such as some character customizations, most mounts, several pets, certain houses, certain gear, certain housing items, or anything inside a hoard, lore, or spellement pack, you're gonna have to spend real money. There are things available for in-game gold, but not much. Here's my thing. The idea of spending real money on a free to play game is nothing new, and it doesn't even make me mad. What makes me mad it the rate in which KingsIsle hiked up all of the crown only items. 2,500 crowns is $5. Good luck trying to find much on the crown shop for 2,500 crowns or less. In addition, some items can be bought for crowns or in-game currency. I saw a housing decoration-a statue-that was listed for 1,500 crowns. You can also buy it for 10,000 gold. Do you know how easy it is to get 10,000 gold in the game? Ridiculously easy. And yet, to purchase it with crowns, you're spending $3 of real money. How does that equate to the same value? It doesn't. In fact, you can even buy gold in the crown shop, and the crown to gold rate is COMPLETELY different, so logically, it doesn't even make sense. They do not care. Whoever created the crown prices in the crown shop needs to become a politician and run for office because it's that level of greed. So anyways, have fun with this game, the membership, and your in-game currency and drops from battles. I do recommend that. Please be careful with buying crowns, though. It's so easy to waste sooooo much money.

Wizard101 has a lot of nostalgic charm with its classic spell-card combat and whimsical magical world design, but unfortunately, the modern experience is heavily hindered by its outdated business model. Most of the game's core content, worlds, and expansions are locked behind a mandatory subscription wall or expensive zone purchases, making it feel more like a trial than a complete game. Coupled with a repetitive grind and very slow progression for free players, I can't really recommend it in its current state

One of my favorite games as a kid, and still an amazing game 15 years later as an adult. You can't go wrong with wizards

I love the game, but the paywall completely ruins any chances of me deciding to choose it instead of other free and more modern games. Lots of charm and fun features in this game, but not enough to justify how quickly they pump the brakes on your account until you cough up money. I'd never make an in-game purchase when I already have to pay a membership. The unpaid game is a glorified demo. Every few years I come back to check if they have made membership free, and every few years I am disappointed once again.

free to play until level 13

The best game to ever exist with the worst customer support. Don't mess up or you'll regret it forever.

WHy cant I use my old childhood account on the steam version, this game is like 20 years old and we cant figure out how to do this safely yet?