Welcome to iDigitalTimes’ newest column, Weekly Freebie, a post highlighting great free-to-play games every Friday. That should give you plenty of time to install the game and spend a couple of days playing before the weekend is over. We won’t be beholden to a specific platform. Some weeks you’ll see a console game recommended here, other weeks it might be a PC or mobile release. The only constant will be the game’s F2P business model.
This week, we decided to step away from the PC for a few days to find something for those who prefer to do most of their gaming on a smartphone and/or tablet. While there’s no shortage of free games available on iOS or Android, it’s Hungry Shark World that has eaten up a surprising amount of our free time in the last seven days. You probably won’t sit around playing for hours at time, the way you might with Duelyst or Istrolid, but it’s an excellent way to kill time while waiting for a movie to start or during the commercial break of your favorite show.
In Hungry Shark World, players control a shark. Probably not much of a shock. As a shark, you’ll explore one of five maps, searching for various living things to eat, treasures to recover, letters to spell out the word “Hungry” and other secrets tucked into the nooks and crannies of each stage. Your shark’s life will gradually deplete anytime you’re not eating and is replenished by eating the various people, fish, crustaceans, birds and other animals found on each map. Players can also earn bonuses for eating large quantities of fish (or other creatures) in a small amount of time.
Finding food is only half the battle in Hungry Shark World. Players will also need to avoid larger sharks (and other hostile fish) along with harpoon-wielding humans and other threats. Like many mobile free-to-play games, players are also given a handful of missions they can complete during each run -- like Swim 1000 Meters or Eat 100 Fish -- which yield extra gold. When you die, players receive all of the gold they earned during their latest run, which can be used to boost your shark’s stats or to buy items from the in-game store. And we’ve already come up with a list of tips and tricks to help you survive longer and earn more gold on each run.
Maps don’t appear to change from one run to the next; however, fish placement does seem to be random. There are also obstacles that can only be cleared by larger sharks. Likewise, some of the game’s largest creatures can’t be consumed until you’ve gained access to much larger sharks. New sharks can be purchased from the in-game store, using the gold you earn each time you play, though you’ll have to play for a few hours (or spend some cash) to get access to each size.
Real money can be spent for a variety of purposes. Cash is converted into gems, which are then used for everything from buying new pets and sharks accessories to unlocking sharks and maps that would usually take hours to obtain. You can even use gems to skip unwanted missions. The game doesn’t beat you over the head with pop-ups trying to get the player to spend money. But there is a noticeable chasm between the gem cost of goods/services and the rate at which players can accrue said gems without spending any cash.
To try Hungry Shark World, head over to the App Store and/or Google Play .
