It sounds as if we are much alike… I have not spent anything on AB games (how did you get Mighty Eagle with in-game currency? Was there a mini-game I missed out on?). On Space, I only feathered everything once the Mirror World missions won me enough Space Eagles to take care of business. *smile* I still haven’t feathered any other spot that required Mighty Eagle because I am too cheap to spend money on that!
That being said, if I could get an ad-free version of any AB game, I would pay for that. It’s the in-app stuff I can’t stand. When it comes time to buy Bad Piggies for my daughter (oh, she will have it and MUST love it! *smile*), I will have no problem spending 99 cents or $1.99 (BP is probably my favorite AB-related game of all time).
I guess when it comes to AB2 levels I see things a little differently from you. I think randomness plays a WAY larger role, and I don’t find that challenging. To dust off an old tale I tell, one six-roomer WAAAAY back (in the 200s, maybe?) took me days to complete. I must have spent at least 40-50 lives, but no continues. No continues because I rarely even saw the final room. Then, one morning I tried again and I finished the level with NINE cards in my hand. From rarely seeing the last room to nine cards. Skill had nothing to do with the win any more than lack of skill had anything to do with NOT winning, and I wasn’t getting any “better” by continuing to play the level.
I miss the arc line in the old games, but that also feels like a grittier challenge to me. I agree that original AP games have a lot of “one bird just right” nonsense to them, and I’ve lost a lot of time on them, too. But at least when I do complete a level it feels like I really earned it instead of just getting lucky with debris, pig placement, structure types, or face-up cards.
Then again, I don’t replay ANY AB levels once they are three-starred, the exception, of course, being Epic where farming a level is useful for earning snoutlings or gathering resources. That’s a whole different ball game, though.
Gravity Grove is ending up being a grind, and I am only 4 levels in. Hopefully there are more clever dynamics later on, and hopefully the Boss levels aren’t just variations on a very simple theme.
Thanks,
sutekh137