Review Insights · App Store
Virtual Villagers 6
LDW Software, LLC · 7,984 ratings · ★ 4.8
4.8
★★★★★
7,984 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 54 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"game"
35 negative reviews mention this · 65% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun but time consuming. This game is fun but definitely takes a lot of time to build tech points. If you’re looking for a slow as cement game play this is it" - jessicaw543
2
"villagers"
16 negative reviews mention this · 30% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Clearly a money grab. Recently just deleted it. Everything in this game is a money grab. Look up the online walkthroughs and you can’t progress past the first couple of missions unless you pay with real life money for “lava stones”. You need lava stones for lite…" - trumpetplayer190
3
"play"
14 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun but time consuming. This game is fun but definitely takes a lot of time to build tech points. If you’re looking for a slow as cement game play this is it" - jessicaw543
4
"money"
14 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Clearly a money grab. Recently just deleted it. Everything in this game is a money grab. Look up the online walkthroughs and you can’t progress past the first couple of missions unless you pay with real life money for “lava stones”. You need lava stones for lite…" - trumpetplayer190
5
"games"
12 negative reviews mention this · 22% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Experience Hindered by PayWall. The game used to be a fun experience, but now it is filled with ads urging you to spend money. They purposefully make it harder for you to complete puzzles in order to make you pay for “special items” to assist. I have spent weeks on one pa…" - Abcde jkil
6
"tech"
11 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun but time consuming. This game is fun but definitely takes a lot of time to build tech points. If you’re looking for a slow as cement game play this is it" - jessicaw543
7
"points"
11 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun but time consuming. This game is fun but definitely takes a lot of time to build tech points. If you’re looking for a slow as cement game play this is it" - jessicaw543
8
"tech points"
10 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun but time consuming. This game is fun but definitely takes a lot of time to build tech points. If you’re looking for a slow as cement game play this is it" - jessicaw543
9
"progress"
10 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Clearly a money grab. Recently just deleted it. Everything in this game is a money grab. Look up the online walkthroughs and you can’t progress past the first couple of missions unless you pay with real life money for “lava stones”. You need lava stones for lite…" - trumpetplayer190
10
"takes"
9 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Fun but time consuming. This game is fun but definitely takes a lot of time to build tech points. If you’re looking for a slow as cement game play this is it" - jessicaw543
11
"spend"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Experience Hindered by PayWall. The game used to be a fun experience, but now it is filled with ads urging you to spend money. They purposefully make it harder for you to complete puzzles in order to make you pay for “special items” to assist. I have spent weeks on one pa…" - Abcde jkil
12
"puzzles"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Experience Hindered by PayWall. The game used to be a fun experience, but now it is filled with ads urging you to spend money. They purposefully make it harder for you to complete puzzles in order to make you pay for “special items” to assist. I have spent weeks on one pa…" - Abcde jkil
📋 All 54 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Eh
I’ve played these games as long as I can remember. This is by far the worst. I do like the storyline is a bit more complex but the puzzles and lava stones are so infuriating and a very obvious just grab for money rather than game quality. Also the spinning for special quality, I spun 6 times in a row and got giant head every single time. Again a very obvious ploy to get you to spend more money, watch more ads. It’s not even about a game anymore it’s just a money grab.
Review
I was really hoping for better. I only play it once a day because no matter where you put the villagers they don’t respond or react. You have to wait 24 hours for a hint. Thats the only time they do what they are supposed to when placed somewhere. Quite frustrating and boring.
They don’t care
All they do is steal your money and won’t restore your purchase and claim that you used a different account when they were both the same account they don’t care about the people they only want yall money so play if you like being stolen from …
Disappointed
I really like playing the game. However I spent money trying to level up in spirituality to be able to use the levitation power so I can progress in the game; and when I purchased the stones to do so it only opened up other powers not what I needed, I have read reviews online and it says this is a glitch. I’m very disappointed that I wasted my money!
Boring
It got boring way too quick and the game feels unfinished. I put it down for a few months but just decided to try it again. I don’t want to spend an hour catching poisonous frogs just because I haven’t played in a while!!!
Not even close to other virtual villagers games.
Constant glitches and timing issues. It takes forever to progress and villagers are not as proactive as in other games. I regret the money I put into the game as I’ll never play again
Ruined a Childhood staple
Another childhood game ruined by the pay to win mechanic. I would have preferred to outright buy the game than these gotcha mechanics. The idea was to play this when you want to pass the time for what reason does it not work without internet? So you can show ads and sell us stuff.. you should have just sold us the game and let us play it how we want.
To expensive to actually advance timely
I like the actual game, it’s fun. But it takes entirely too long to get the tech points naturally to make a difference. You’ll have to wait for a week before you can upgrade one thing. The option to pay for points is there, but who wants to spend 20 dollars to upgrade two things and play for an hour and be stuck with the same waiting game. In every version of VV that is what makes me delete it every time
AI
Uses AI generated visuals. Very sad cause i used to love these games:/
You need a pay wall to progress
Very upset that a beloved game of many decades is ruined by yet again another greedy group. Having a paywall to progress at a fast rate is ridiculous. Please put this game on Apple Arcade so the paywall is gone thank you
Delete
3 of the 5 minutes this game was downloaded was spent watching ads. Delete.
Horrible disappointment.
The older games are still more fun and rewarding to play than this one, and that pains me.
I don’t like the character art or lack of it, the map, the puzzles, the flow of time and progression, everything. It feels as if there was no love put into it unlike the originals, just greed.
I’ve even made purchases and spent dedicated time trying to get to know the game and for it to grow on me. It only got worse.
I don’t like the character art or lack of it, the map, the puzzles, the flow of time and progression, everything. It feels as if there was no love put into it unlike the originals, just greed.
I’ve even made purchases and spent dedicated time trying to get to know the game and for it to grow on me. It only got worse.
Ruined the franchise with pay to play
Game designed to force microtransactions. Purposefully making you frustrated by lack of progression so you’re encouraged to buy. Would’ve paid $20 for a great game devoid of this parasitic business model
Fix the bugs!!
I’ve played virtual villagers since I played on my grandmas computer in the early 2000’s. They have the hint section now, but it takes entirely too long for tech points to add up. Once you get past the first one or two levels of upgrading technology, it then takes several days to get enough to get to level 2 or 3.
Aside from that, there’s been a glitch in the crafting hut that’s extremely annoying. I’ll put two things together to craft, hit the check mark and watch the countdown start, sounds crazy but after so many times of it happening I thought I was going crazy & had to check. After I watch the countdown start, i’ll exit the crafting hut, make sure everything’s fine before I exit the game and wait a bit to come back to collect the craft. Once I come back for the craft, it’ll be completely gone. No finished craft, nothing sitting in the two bowls to be started to be crafted, literally just poof gone & i have to start the craft over again. It’s so frustrating especially for things that take over 20 mins.
Aside from that, there’s been a glitch in the crafting hut that’s extremely annoying. I’ll put two things together to craft, hit the check mark and watch the countdown start, sounds crazy but after so many times of it happening I thought I was going crazy & had to check. After I watch the countdown start, i’ll exit the crafting hut, make sure everything’s fine before I exit the game and wait a bit to come back to collect the craft. Once I come back for the craft, it’ll be completely gone. No finished craft, nothing sitting in the two bowls to be started to be crafted, literally just poof gone & i have to start the craft over again. It’s so frustrating especially for things that take over 20 mins.
Demand a refund
Multiple purchases were made on this app, I didn’t realize that was being done , account overdrawn etc. I need support to contact me asap. I have disputed with Apple and my bank. This is crazy this app doesn’t have no way to contact anyone. I did not purchase whatever I was being charged for and want a full refund asap!
Difficult get anywhere
Extremely hard to figure out what to do next and I’ve read that you need to pay for most success
Impossible
I’ve played all the virtual villagers games over the years since I was a teen and this is the hardest one trying to breed the villagers is so hard and most the time it takes days for the babies to mature into children and earning tech point vs how much you need to spend to progress is nearly impossible but villagers getting sick or dieing happens so easy I’ve had to restart the game 7 times since having it even if I’m on everyday and keeping up with my villagers I always come back to them dead or having one to two villagers left (mostly just man)
IT’S A MONEY PIT!!
It’s a game you HAVE to spend money to proceed from the very beginning. Villagers don’t live long. I can check on the villagers when I go to bed and when I wake up 3 have died and they want you to buy more villagers. THESE GAMES ARE MONEY PITS!! NOT WORTH WASTING YOUR MONEY.
Dissatisfied
I waited for a long time for a functional version of this game. Greed has ruined it. Unless you plan on spending really money, you’re wasting your time. It takes unrealistically long to accomplish anything in game, even with watching ads. What a shame.
Glitch seriously preventing progress
I was really enjoying the game. But then I had to reset my device and while logging back into my account- there was somehow a glitch that kept my villagers and existing progress. But it’s not recognizing any of my technology changes, this means that it doesn’t see my exploration expansion and won’t let me load isola mystics anymore. And my resources say they’ll take over 200 hours to resupply. I’ve tried multiple times to redownload the app and log back in. But now I’m worried it’s permanent and I’ve wasted all of this time
Glitches
My crafting station constantly glitches. Have wasted hours waiting for items to finish for it to glitch and disappear
This game is way too frustrating
I’ve been playing this game for 2 weeks and only have 2k tech points, one of my villagers is sick, the child’s been a kid forever, and nothing makes sense. Very confusing
Not for people who have an actual life
I like to play games before bed; I put like two hours of Work to the game last night and then when I get ready to play this evening, everyone was dead. There’s no option to slow down or speed up like some of the older versions so I’m just gonna go back and replay a version from my childhood.
Horrible
Cannot come close to figuring out how to play
Don’t waste your time
Don’t bother wasting your time on this game. The game glitched and I lost all my progress. When I reached out to support, they wouldn’t help and couldn’t even get the issue fixed. I had to reset the game which led me to lose all my in-app purchase. This company is scamming people by not even trying to help solve their own game issues
I can’t reset. No App Support
I tried to reset the app, but, the app just grinds. I went to the App Support page, but, VV6 is not listed. So, I can’t play.
This is why I’m giving it a 1.
This is why I’m giving it a 1.
Trash
I knew it was going to be raggedy as soon as I tried to choose my villagers because why do they allll look alike. Also it’s nothing like the old games unfortunately. Deleted immediately.
Unplayable bc of paywalls
I am an avid gamer. This game way too complicated and unclear how to play. Unless you look up tutorials from other players you aren’t getting far. The villagers die while you’re away from the game and unless you are going to buy more you have to wait for your last villagers to die before getting new ones. I went to bed one night woke up with my last female gone. On top of that, the tec points are impossible to get. This is a pay to play game and I can’t reason the prices. Paying $5 for people and then they die over night is crazy. Between that and the fact that that game is not easy to play intuitively I’m unhappy with the game.
Slow and boring
I really don’t know much else to say other than the tutorial is terrible. I shouldn’t have to go redit to learn how to solve the first puzzle after the brief tutorial ends. Also, the first part is too dark.
Ruined a fun game
They ruined Virtual Villagers. It use to be a fun stand alone game, but it looks like greed got ahold of the devs. It’s pay to play for everything in the game. I wouldn’t bother getting this game unless you like throwing money away.
Not What I Expected
I remember enjoying the past versions of this game, so I expected the same with this version. However, it is impossible to do anything without spending money, which is extremely disappointing. This game forces you to spend money which takes away the joy of solving the puzzles. The puzzles themselves are difficult to go through without searching it up and even once you figure out what to do it’s impossible to move forward. I do not recommend this version.
Frustrating
The puzzles and upgrades in this game aren’t in any sensible order, it’s insanely frustrating. The cheapest upgrades aren’t the first ones you need, your villagers will be starving by the time you can afford the ones you DO need and in that time, you basically can’t do anything with the game but wait. (To any criticism like this, the team will use the SAME stupid, pointless reply of basically ”look it up”. That’s not the point. READ your reviews. Hope they understand) I gave up on this game a few hours after writing this.
Won’t move on
I love this game but my game won’t allow any villager with or without master gathering skills, to pluck the last purple flower. I’ve wasted time and money, trying hard not to delete
Fun but time consuming
This game is fun but definitely takes a lot of time to build tech points. If you’re looking for a slow as cement game play this is it
Clearly a money grab
Recently just deleted it. Everything in this game is a money grab. Look up the online walkthroughs and you can’t progress past the first couple of missions unless you pay with real life money for “lava stones”. You need lava stones for literally everything. To level in researching you need a TON of tech points which take your villagers AGES to actually generate. Don’t waste your time 😒
Experience Hindered by PayWall
The game used to be a fun experience, but now it is filled with ads urging you to spend money. They purposefully make it harder for you to complete puzzles in order to make you pay for “special items” to assist. I have spent weeks on one particular puzzle of the game with no end in sight because I refuse to buy one of the game’s services that would make completing the task easier. There goes another one of my favorite games destroyed again by greedy developers.
Not paying to increase skill
I’m not paying money to increase a skill so I can move forward in the game.
Too many transactions
It’s virtually impossible to progress in this game without spending money. And it’s not $0.99 either… the average amount you need to progress one task is about $10. This is a huge bummer because I loved playing older versions of this game as a kid. Unfortunately this makes it unplayable for me.
Glitch
Too many time glitches
It’s alright
It takes forever to do anything. I got bored very quickly
Progress not saving
Game was fun but after logging back in after playing for a few hours earlier, it had me back at the intro. Was fun while it lasted but uninstalled 🤷🏾♀️
Waste of time
I've played the PC versions but this one is just tedious. Deleted it.
AI
I’m very upset with the use of AI slop. You all should be supporting REAL artists, that’s where you get real charm from.
Awful tutorial
This is the worst tutorial for a mobile game I’ve ever seen. Doesn’t tell you what to do nor ease you into the experience. Just awful.
Tech points
Tech points don’t add up correctly. There’s been a lot of times that I was supposed to get 100 tech points and it only added 10 points to my total
Tech points and game review
There is too many tech points needed and it makes the game challenging and very boring. I expected something more like the older games like origins or new believers. While this one allows for more villagers and has updated graphics, I can’t say that I like it much better.
There are too many ads to watch. I would prefer to play it on my computer like the rest of the virtual villager games. I would like it to remain challenging in some ways but I believe with all the tech points just to get to the first level and second level is too much.
Also, the main menu is not like the old games. I would like to be able to start the game over and make a difference tribe. The game has been buggy and will say my villagers are cursed and then it will crash and no one is cursed.
There also aren’t very many surprise options with the multiple choose pop up option. If and when I do get it. I have gotten one and it popped up multiple times.
The crafting doesn’t allow for me to craft objects that are past a certain technical point that I haven’t bought with tech points but they still appear as options? I also have crafted some objects and there is a bug because sometimes I don’t get the objects I crafted. And also sometimes the earthquakes don’t have anything.
I would like to see more lore like from the first version of the game to the last. And maybe a tiny bit on the collectibles and relics. Are those relics special in some way? There is a lot left to the gamer on that and I don’t mind a whole bunch but I do think a bit more lore for the gamers who love a bit more story would be great. Maybe make it optional so that people who don’t love it don’t have to read all of it and it doesn’t disturb their gaming. I would also like to see a family tree for Virtual villagers like how the first virtual families had one.
I do like that you have a lot more to explore in this game than the past ones but some of the puzzles and areas don’t make much sense within the game. (Maybe consider putting them on different islands or explaining it within the story line better? Also, how does this game connect to the past games. I’m not finding the connection within the story? Did I mention making a desktop version? Thank you for reading.
There are too many ads to watch. I would prefer to play it on my computer like the rest of the virtual villager games. I would like it to remain challenging in some ways but I believe with all the tech points just to get to the first level and second level is too much.
Also, the main menu is not like the old games. I would like to be able to start the game over and make a difference tribe. The game has been buggy and will say my villagers are cursed and then it will crash and no one is cursed.
There also aren’t very many surprise options with the multiple choose pop up option. If and when I do get it. I have gotten one and it popped up multiple times.
The crafting doesn’t allow for me to craft objects that are past a certain technical point that I haven’t bought with tech points but they still appear as options? I also have crafted some objects and there is a bug because sometimes I don’t get the objects I crafted. And also sometimes the earthquakes don’t have anything.
I would like to see more lore like from the first version of the game to the last. And maybe a tiny bit on the collectibles and relics. Are those relics special in some way? There is a lot left to the gamer on that and I don’t mind a whole bunch but I do think a bit more lore for the gamers who love a bit more story would be great. Maybe make it optional so that people who don’t love it don’t have to read all of it and it doesn’t disturb their gaming. I would also like to see a family tree for Virtual villagers like how the first virtual families had one.
I do like that you have a lot more to explore in this game than the past ones but some of the puzzles and areas don’t make much sense within the game. (Maybe consider putting them on different islands or explaining it within the story line better? Also, how does this game connect to the past games. I’m not finding the connection within the story? Did I mention making a desktop version? Thank you for reading.
Fun but bad UI
Fun but sorting thru villagers is a pain. A list view of villagers with age, occupation, gender, health, and cursed status would be helpful. There's no to get a high level view of the population so you can't manage your people properly.
$10 is expensive for a pet
I loved the old games with all my heart and I am trying to regress in this game, but I do not think the pets are worth $10 I'd say five dollars would be generous. Also progression sometimes feels too slow. I don't really wanna write a whole entire essay about the game, but it's nothing like the old ones. I don't like that in order to get some progress you have to grind and if you leave the game for over 24 hours you immediately lose you have to reset everything honestly the game could be better
Disappointed
I’ve played all other versions and truly adored this game. Unfortunately this version makes it nearly impossible to complete with spending a ton of money. So far I’ve invested $20 which doesn’t sound like much but it’s a loss because I’m losing my villagers and can hardly complete puzzles waiting on tech points or lava stones.
Better Graphics, Less Productivity
I have been playing the virtual villager’s brand of games since it first came out, and I’ve played all of the different virtual villagers. This one by far is the best looking graphic wise however, lot of the useful features were lost. In that I guess… such as when one of your villagers is pregnant they used to be long she would be carrying the child that is gone. It just says nursing now.. also they give you on a timer, but if you miss the time out time, they just restart the clock and you don’t get your hint. Something that I found extremely irritating. The game asked for feedback and I told them some of my and they directed me to a Reddit page for an online platform discussion with tips and tricks. So basically it was just an auto reply back and then someone sending me a link.. also something I noticed with virtual villagers two origins I purchased that game and I also purchased upgrades in game stop playing for a year and came back and tried to restore and they were unavailable. And I contacted the developer group and they basically told me would be no updates to it, and if it was glitching, it was what it was.
+ 4 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
95%
Positive (4-5★)
2%
Neutral (3★)
4%
Negative (1-2★)