Decurse – Review

Big Fish Games teamed up with Boolat Games, the prolific developer behind favorites like Dreampath and Dark Cases for a new magical farming game for mobile. Decurse takes place on a sparkly island that is half-submerged in water. Can you reverse the curse and bring happiness back to the people of the island?

Boolat Games first started venturing into the sim genre with their near-excellent 2012 classic The Promised Land, and later, the free-to-pay extravaganza Sunken Secrets. In many ways, Decurse takes elements from both of the titles mentioned and crafts an even more polished, more entertaining free-to-play sim experience.

The core gameplay of Decurse does not differ much from other freemium farming blockbusters like Hay Day and Township, but the magical theme is able to somewhat differentiate it from the crowd. Decurse features a Happiness meter, which can be increased by completing villagers’ requests and installing decorations. This happiness score will then allow the player to “decurse” and expand land using the Magic currency. The expanded land not only opens up more space, but also unlocks new features and buildings. The Magic currency can be obtained from a variety of fountain installments – they take time to reload, but also double as decoration.

Other game mechanics are nothing revolutionary. While the over all is definitely well-engineered and supremely entertaining, I was fairly disappointed that the game did not take full advantage of its magical farming theme. Decurse includes derivative features like farm crops, product machines, board requests, hot air balloon challenges, and other features that have been exploited before in other farming games. However, the game does feature a nice array of social features – from trading to farm visits. With even more features to be added in future updates, Decurse could very well be more fun to play with friends.

Part of what makes Decurse so distinguished despite the minimal innovation in terms of its gameplay would be its magical, mesmerizing visuals. Decurse thrives on bright colors, fancy effects, and lively animations – rarely has a farming game been this colorful. The game also does not hold back when it comes to imaginative, almost absurdly fantasy, visual elements. Even if the actual gameplay is quite unoriginal, Decurse captivates its players through these memorable visuals.

I found Decurse to be relatively reasonable with its in-game purchases. The game features two main currencies; coins and gems – both of which can be bought with actual money. From time to time, the game allows the player to shorten wait time or bypass certain tasks by watching a short advertisement video. It would be nice to make this an option to earn free diamonds or coins as well.

Decurse is a charming and delightful farming sim game, regardless of its slightly predictable gameplay.