DragonVale

DragonVale is a park simulator video game developed by Backflip Studios and released on September 14, 2011 for iOS and on November 9, 2012 for Android. DragonVale was acquired by publisher DECA Games in March 2020 following the closure of Backflip Studios.[1]

DragonVale
Developer(s)Backflip Studios
Publisher(s)DECA Games
Platform(s)iOS, Android
ReleaseSeptember 14, 2011 (iOS), November 9, 2012 (Android)
Genre(s)Park simulator

Gameplay

DragonVale is a dragon breeding simulation game in which players design an island park and display dragons in habitats. Displaying dragons allows the player to earn "dragon cash". Dragon cash can be used to upgrade a park with new islands, habitats, and decorations.[2] Currently, the game has a max park level of 140, and there is a total dragon count of 587 (203 elemental dragons, 246 special dragons, and 246 epic dragons), decoration count of 478, and an island count of 29.[3]

Basic elemental dragons can produce a specific set of hybrid dragons by being paired in the Breeding Cave, the Epic Breeding Island, the Berrywhite Breeding Cave, which is only available during Valentine's, or the Cooperative Breeding Cave. The ten basic elements are plant, fire, earth, cold, lightning, water, air, metal, light, and dark.

Epic dragons are rarer than basic elemental dragons and hybrids. Types of Epic dragons include Sun, Moon, Rainbow, Treasure, Olympus, Gemstone, Dream, Seasonal, Apocalypse, Chrysalis, Ornamental, Crystalline, Snowflake, Monolith, Aura, Hidden, Galactic, and Surface.

There are a number of limited or rare dragons, known as "Special Dragons", that are only available during a specific period of time. These dragons are themed toward specific holidays, seasons, anomalies, months, and events. For example, the Ghost dragon is available for Halloween and the Reindeer dragon is available for the winter holidays. Many Epic dragons are also limited; for example, the Leap Year Dragon that is theoretically only available every 4 years. Limited dragons are often released alongside a limited park decoration. Limited dragons include the gemstone dragons, which correspond to the monthly birthstones. Gemstone dragons earn gems rather than Dragon cash. Backflip Studios has held several "bring them back" events to give players a chance to breed a limited dragon they may have missed the first time around.

Gems are a vital part of DragonVale. Without them certain goals take longer to achieve. Gems can be acquired through trading them with friends, winning them in the colosseum and race track, purchasing them directly, or from gemstone and crystalline dragons.

The Rift is another dimension in the game. In the Rift, Gems and Dragoncash are useless and the player must collect Etherium. The best way to collect Etherium is having dragons in the rift. The rift has a maximum of 55 habitats, which can be decorated using Rift habitat themes. Many dragons can go into the rift, but the rift has 27 special dragons. [4]

Though breeding is the most common way to earn non-basic dragons, they can also be bought from the market for a high amount of gems unless they are the basic elemental dragons, for which you can use Dragon cash. Players can buy new islands to make space for more habitats although there is a limit on habitats.

Players raise dragons to adulthood by feeding them treats grown from treat farms, won from the race track, or earned from the completion of quests. The higher level a dragon is, the more Dragoncash it will earn per minute. Different dragons earn Dragoncash at different rates. For example, a Gift dragon at level 10 can only earn 77 Dragoncash per minute while a level 10 Moon Dragon can earn 256 coins per minute. Rainbow Dragons can earn 400 Dragoncash per minute at level 10.

There have also been several events held in relation to time of year or holidays that require the player to do a number of activities like collecting Dragoncash/Gems, hatching or selling dragons after incubation, and other special provisions. These activities give the player a certain limited time currency that corresponds to the event and enables the player to buy exclusive or unique items.

Critical reception

The game has a score of 84 on Metacritic based on 5 critic reviews.[5]

The game also has an average score of 7.1 out of 10 based upon the community's reviews on Metacritic currently.[5]

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References
  1. McAloon, Alissa. "Deca Games acquires DragonVale following Backflip Studios closure". www.gamasutra.com.
  2. Author, AppAdvice Staff (September 19, 2011). "Build A Park Full Of Dragons In DragonVale". AppAdvice.
  3. "Dragonvale Captured My Heart and My Wallet in 2011". Kotaku.
  4. "Introducing the Rift!". Backflip Studios. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  5. "DragonVale". Metacritic.
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