''Dragon Coins'' is a

mobile video game A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to handheld game conso ...

developed and published by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and Android devices. It was released in Japan in 2012 and North America and Europe in May 2014. The game was successful in Japan, but was not as well received in Western regions, with the game shutting down in August 2015 due to financial difficulties.

Gameplay

The game plays as a combination of '' Puzzle and Dragons'' and coin-collecting games found in

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

s. The game is

free to play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...

with

in-app purchases Microtransaction (mtx) refers to a business model where users can purchase in-game virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransactions ...

available for the player to purchases the in-game currency, along with other items, using real world currency. The player has to drop coins on to the dragons, which then the dragon charges up its attacks to battle computer-controlled opponents. Sometimes the player will find the dragon with "Special Attacks". If the player loses a round, they will lose small amounts of money earned by previous rounds.

Development

The game was developed by

and first released in Japan in 2012. Its initial release featured a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...

with

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

's ''

Mega Man ''Mega Man'' (known as in Japan) is a video game franchise developed and published by Capcom, featuring the Mega Man (character), protagonist of the same name. The Mega Man (1987 video game), original game was released for the Nintendo Enter ...

'' franchise. The game was later released in North America and Europe on 8 May 2014. In all regions, it was released on the

and Android mobile platforms. The game was shut down on 21 August 2015 in Japan and on the 24 August 2015 in the rest of the world, just a little more than a year after its English release. A Sega representative explained it was due to the game not bringing in an audience sufficient to support running the games servers and updates.

Reception

The game's release was considered a success in Japan, where it was seen as part of a wave of games that used gameplay elements typically found in

arcade games An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade ...

and translated them into popular mobile phone games. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games Inc. - a Tokyo-based video game industry consultancy focused on the Japanese market - cited it as a game that found success in combining elements from

Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

games in mobile games as a method of getting around Japan's legal order to stop all kompu gacha-based games at the time. Western reception was less positive, with the game being forced to shut down just over a year after its release. Peter Willington of

Pocketgamer ''Pocket Gamer'' is a video game website and former print magazine that focuses on mobile, portable and handheld games. It was launched in 2005 by Steel Media Limited. The publication covers portable and mobile gaming formats, including iPhone, ...

gave the game a 6/10 score, stating that the core gameplay was technically proficient, but that it lacked anything to keep players along for the long-term, concluding that it was "a slick-looking, technically sound digital representation of a penny-pusher, with some very light RPG elements thrown in, but its lack of interaction with others ensures that its simple gameplay tires all the more quickly." Nadia Oxford of

Gamezebo ''Gamezebo'' (sometimes stylized ''GameZebo'') is a website which reports on and reviews video games. Founded in 2005 by Joel Brodie, it was billed as the first website to solely cover casual games and expanded its scope to social games in 20 ...

gave the game a higher 8/10, referring to it as a good ''

Puzzle & Dragons is a puzzle video game with Role-playing video game, role-playing and strategy games, strategy elements, developed and published by GungHo Online Entertainment for the iOS, Android (operating system), Android, and Amazon Fire platforms. ''Puzz ...

'' clone, but as such, lacked originality, and suffered from steep and expensive

, hurting its long-term appeal.

References

{{Sega, Category=Games 2012 video games Android (operating system) games IOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Puzzle video games Role-playing video games Sega video games Video games developed in Japan