As a potential customer and not a developer, IAP can be a great implementation of that same "shareware" model or it can be the equivalent of many old arcade gam

As a potential customer and not a developer, IAP can be a great implementation of that same "shareware" model or it can be the equivalent of many old arcade games where the only confounding factor to progress in a game was how many quarters you fed in. By far my favorite way to find and buy games is to have a free app with the first (x) levels and then a single IAP of $1-10 depending on the game to unlock the full package. That way I get to see if I enjoy the game and if it runs well before hitting that "buy" button and I'd imagine this helps to get people to try out a title in a marketplace full of free options. The only issue from a my standpoint is how so many games are designed to be seriously unplayable (or at least un-fun) unless I keep paying a dollar or two every day. Whether it's time limits (less annoying) or needing in-game currency to progress, so many games start to feel like the only thing holding you back isn't skill, practice, or puzzle-solving but the fact that you haven't spent $10, $20, or $50 on IAP. I can only imagine that this has proven to be the more profitable setup since that model seems to have taken over the Apple and Google app stores and I doubt developers would be doing it if it wasn't for a reason. Still sucks for somebody like me who has no problem paying $5-10 (I mean, come on...it's the equivalent of eating lunch at a restaurant instead of packing one at home) for a game as long as I can play a few levels first to see if it's something I'd be interested in. Instead I end up buying the few I can find like that and when I finish them, it's back to the pile of time-limited freemium titles I have installed and cycle through any time I want to kill more than 5 minutes screwing around on my phone.