Review Insights · App Store
Virtual Villagers 6
LDW Software, LLC · 8,465 ratings · ★ 4.8
4.8
★★★★★
8,465 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
★★★★★ "Time and prices. The time it takes to complete tasks is crazy you’d have to play the game often to level up and all the items in the shop is super expensive." - LotusReLoaded
2
"villagers"
18 negative reviews mention this · 33% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The countdown. I cannot gain any spiritual points. Every time I check the timer it goes longer without replenishing the power. My villagers have starved after upgrading farming because I cannot clear the Beatle off the farming patch." - meh ig its funerre
3
"play"
15 negative reviews mention this · 28% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Time and prices. The time it takes to complete tasks is crazy you’d have to play the game often to level up and all the items in the shop is super expensive." - LotusReLoaded
4
"money"
13 negative reviews mention this · 24% 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
"points"
11 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The countdown. I cannot gain any spiritual points. Every time I check the timer it goes longer without replenishing the power. My villagers have starved after upgrading farming because I cannot clear the Beatle off the farming patch." - meh ig its funerre
6
"progress"
11 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Game Gets Stuck. The game started off well, but itself but then it reset. It didn’t lose progress but you could no longer proceed. Tech points wouldn’t accumulate. Life cycles won’t complete. You open it and the villagers are in the exact same place." - BellaGail
7
"games"
11 negative reviews mention this · 20% 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
8
"tech"
10 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Game Gets Stuck. The game started off well, but itself but then it reset. It didn’t lose progress but you could no longer proceed. Tech points wouldn’t accumulate. Life cycles won’t complete. You open it and the villagers are in the exact same place." - BellaGail
9
"takes"
9 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Time and prices. The time it takes to complete tasks is crazy you’d have to play the game often to level up and all the items in the shop is super expensive." - LotusReLoaded
10
"tech points"
9 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Game Gets Stuck. The game started off well, but itself but then it reset. It didn’t lose progress but you could no longer proceed. Tech points wouldn’t accumulate. Life cycles won’t complete. You open it and the villagers are in the exact same place." - BellaGail
11
"played"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Pacing needs adjustment. I have played many virtual villagers installments over the years. One thing I like about this one is the ability to use youth divine power so my most valued villagers do not pass away. With that said, I realize there is an effort to monetiz…" - Jhawkwba
12
"spend"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Pacing needs adjustment. I have played many virtual villagers installments over the years. One thing I like about this one is the ability to use youth divine power so my most valued villagers do not pass away. With that said, I realize there is an effort to monetiz…" - Jhawkwba
📋 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").
The countdown
I cannot gain any spiritual points. Every time I check the timer it goes longer without replenishing the power. My villagers have starved after upgrading farming because I cannot clear the Beatle off the farming patch.
Lavastones robbed
Just spent 80 lavastones reviving villagers and they were never brought back to village and talking to support its like they're reading my problem in a different language 😒
Game Gets Stuck
The game started off well, but itself but then it reset. It didn’t lose progress but you could no longer proceed. Tech points wouldn’t accumulate. Life cycles won’t complete. You open it and the villagers are in the exact same place.
Constant restart
Not fun
Review to remind me to not download again
The game has only gotten harder and more cash grabby. I played two years ago and I progressed way further than I could in the same amount of time.
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.
Time and prices
The time it takes to complete tasks is crazy you’d have to play the game often to level up and all the items in the shop is super expensive.
Pacing needs adjustment
I have played many virtual villagers installments over the years. One thing I like about this one is the ability to use youth divine power so my most valued villagers do not pass away. With that said, I realize there is an effort to monetize the game, but for some of the puzzles, the pacing is glacial. Like why do we need to wait a full day for 2 jellyfish to appear? Why do we spend countless hours to get the blueberries growing, only to make the blueberry grunt ONE time, then blue paint and that’s it? Why aren’t there more ongoing uses for all the ingredients? Tbh there is hardly any point to collecting much of anything besides vines and bamboo more than the about 20x you may require them for a puzzle. Why are the lava stone rewards for solving puzzles so paltry? I could go on, but the basic is I think they failed tremendously on the pacing, and there is really no micro to speak of (like teaching kids). Also no likes or dislikes beyond your starting villagers.
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
+ 4 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
95%
Positive (4-5★)
2%
Neutral (3★)
3%
Negative (1-2★)