Storm 8 Team Lava Hasbro Bubblemania Scam lie cheat gamble illegal Redwood city, ca Nationwide

Storm 8/Team Lava is the developer of a mobile device game called "Bubblemania". It's a very cute game that can be fun, initially.  The game's premise is for the player to pop bubbles to rescue "babies". When one successfully rescues the babies, the player can move to the next level.  If one fails to beat a level 5 times in a row, the game blocks the player from playing for one hour.  However, after that hour, The game  only provides one  "life". To get the full "life" allotment of 5, one must wait 5 hours (one life per hour). The game is a free download, but offers in game purchases that cost real money. The purchases can be for weapons or extra lives.

so the game implies that the feed of bubbles to the player is random such that one may infer that every time the game is played, there is a possibility of winning.  However, as one progresses through the various stages, it becomes more and more evident that this is not true.  In reality, the game is set up to make players buy the in game purchases.  The game will allow a player to get close to winning, but then manipulate the bubble feed to ensure a loss.  The law of averages just do not hold up when one needs a specific color bubble to win, but is instead fed a series of one color that prohibits victory.  

now all of this may be fairly benign IF the game wasn't milking players for money.  What can, will, and has happened is that after making an in game purchase, the game will continue to work against the player in order to intice more purchases.  It's like playing slots in Vegas, or worse, playing someone with a stacked deck.  It is an infuriating scenario knowing that one has zero actual control over when one may score a victory.  This game should be fair.  When people start plunking down money, they should have a fair shot at winning.  This game is essentially like a carnival game where the outcome is known before the player even throws the first baseball at the milk jug pyramid. 

If you want to save yourself countless episodes of extreme frustration and anger about being cheated by a game, avoid this scam at all costs.