History BribingYourWayToVictory / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'': This being the mobile phone version of the MascotRacer, the game increasingly draws complaints as to mainly being on this model. There are two currencies in the game - coins (freely available on the race tracks) and rubies (of which you only get a modest amount during each two-week set of courses). These currencies can be used to get new drivers/karts/gliders, but the coin shop requires many more coins for the higher-end drivers/karts/gliders (with Super Rare drivers costing 12,000 coins on the off-chance one appears in the shop - and the game has a limit of 300 coins per day that can be earned in races, and another 100 for idling on the matching screen for multiplayer). Plus, the pool of drivers that can appear in the coin shop is rather limited, so its usefulness is rather questionable. On top of that, each race has a list of preferred drivers, karts, and gliders - and the game has a habit of almost always adding new courses where the '''only''' drivers/karts/gliders that give the best bonuses (score bonuses, additional item slots, and the entire ability to perform Frenzys) to do well in "Ranked" cups are Super Rares that were only available via the ruby-only store for a limited two-week span. Paying for the [[{{Freemium}} monthly Gold Pass]] for bonus rubies, karts, and drivers and buying extra rubies to regularly get more draws from the [[LootBoxes gacha]] (before it was removed) or directly buy the high end drivers/karts/gliders (after it was removed) are required to keep pace with what you need to guarantee getting the best ratings on courses.

* Creator/{{Nintendo}} has a variation of this that they like to call "free-to-start" games. This follows the standard model of FreeToPlay with premium currency that can be purchased with real money, except with the addendum that there's a limit to the amount of premium currency buyable, and upon hitting the cap the game will no longer take your money and instead give you a practically unlimited supply of premium currency. Games that use this include ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'', ''VideoGame/PokemonRumble World'', and ''Pokémon Picross''.

** ''VideoGame/MarioGolf World Tour'': Buy all the [=DLC=] courses and get Gold Mario, who basically gives you free coins when you play as him. Besides that, he's simply a PaletteSwap of Mario and even the official art is [[http://www.mariowiki.com/images/3/3f/Metal_Mario_Artwork_-_Mario_Kart_7.png phoned]] [[http://www.mariowiki.com/images/6/66/Gold_Mario.png in]].

** ''VideoGame/MarioPart10'': While amiibo Party only requires one player to have an amiibo in order to play, any players that don't use amiibo will have to use cardboard cutout player pieces that are unable to collect or use tokens.

** ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'': This being the mobile phone version of the MascotRacer, the game increasingly draws complaints as to being on this model. There are two currencies in the game - coins (freely available on the race tracks) and rubies (of which you only get a modest amount during each two-week set of courses). These currencies can be used to get new drivers, but the coin shop requires many more coins for the higher-end drivers (with Super Rare drivers costing 12,000 coins on the off-chance one appears in the shop - and the game has a limit of 300 coins per day that can be earned in races, and another 100 for idling on the matching screen for multiplayer). Plus, the pool of drivers that can appear in the coin shop is rather limited. On top of that, each race has a list of preferred drivers, karts, and gliders - and the game has a habit of adding new courses where the '''only''' drivers/karts/gliders that give the best bonuses are Super Rares that were only available from [[LootBoxes the ruby-paid gacha]] for a two-week span. Paying for the [[{{Freemium}} monthly Gold Pass]] for bonus rubies, karts, and drivers and buying extra rubies to regularly get more draws from the gacha are required to keep pace with what you need to guarantee getting the best ratings on courses.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'':

* ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'' has a {{metagame}} goal to collect 1,000,000 coins. You will normally only collect about 10,000 coins on a playthrough, so the rest need to be earned either by replaying levels or by playing the Coin Rush mode, which throws in bonus multipliers you can earn at the end of each level. However, one of the DownloadableContent packs you can buy consists of three very easy levels filled with thousands of coins... (Such a pack was temporarily offered for free to celebrate a coin milestone, softening the blow a little bit.)

* ''VideoGame/MarioGolf World Tour'': Buy all the [=DLC=] courses and get Gold Mario, who basically gives you free coins when you play as him. Besides that, he's simply a PaletteSwap of Mario and even the official art is [[http://www.mariowiki.com/images/3/3f/Metal_Mario_Artwork_-_Mario_Kart_7.png phoned]] [[http://www.mariowiki.com/images/6/66/Gold_Mario.png in]].
* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' has its Character Cards, which allow you to scan a compatible Amiibo figure (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, or Bowser) to create a reusable card that can be used in-battle for a special effect. The only restrictions that you need to find/buy blank cards to make them (Which aren't terribly expensive) and you can only use one card from each of the six characters per battle. Some of the effects are ''extremely'' useful, such as guaranteed item drops from enemies, a full HP/BP restore, or temporarily preventing the enemy from acting (Which works on bosses). To top it all off, they don't even have a cost like the standard Battle Cards do.
* ''VideoGame/MarioKart Tour'', the mobile phone version of the MascotRacer, increasingly draws complaints as to being on this model. There are two currencies in the game - coins (freely available on the race tracks) and rubies (of which you only get a modest amount during each two-week set of courses). These currencies can be used to get new drivers, but the coin shop requires many more coins for the higher-end drivers (with Super Rare drivers costing 12,000 coins on the off-chance one appears in the shop - and the game has a limit of 300 coins per day that can be earned in races, and another 100 for idling on the matching screen for multiplayer). Plus, the pool of drivers that can appear in the coin shop is rather limited. On top of that, each race has a list of preferred drivers, karts, and gliders - and the game has a habit of adding new courses where the '''only''' drivers/karts/gliders that give the best bonuses are Super Rares that were only available from [[LootBoxes the ruby-paid gacha]] for a two-week span. Paying for the [[{{Freemium}} monthly Gold Pass]] for bonus rubies, karts, and drivers and buying extra rubies to regularly get more draws from the gacha are required to keep pace with what you need to guarantee getting the best ratings on courses.

** Some fights will be challenging, so you’ll need to think a bit, mostly about which items to use and in what order
** You’ll likely never hold the top spot on the Battlegrounds challenges, and even if you do get a top spot you’re unlikely to keep it for long. Fortunately the top spots give nothing but bragging rights

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', scanning a Wedding character amiibo gets you bonuses such as temporary invincibility, a display of the regional coins you haven't found yet on the map, or free Life-Up Hearts.

** When ''Diablo Immortal'' first released, it very quickly came under fire for not only how quickly and shamelessly it shoves pay-to-win mechanics in your face, but the layers upon layers of mechanics that encourage it. Despite the fact the devs said [[ExactWords you can't buy gear with real money]], paying for premium currency lets you buy crafting item and Legendary Crests, which are one-time use items used to increase item drops and are the only way to get 5-star Legendary Gems. Gems are the primary money sinks in the game, as to get a fully upgraded gem, you need to not only randomly find a 5-star Legendary gem, you need to rank it up by sacrificing more gems and max out Resonance bonuses that get better the more maxed out gems you have. Players estimated you'd need to spend at least ''$100,000'' to fully max out gem bonuses... only for that estimate to increase to '''''over $500,000''''' after a few weeks later, when players discovered there's something called Awakening bonuses that needs ''even more Legendary gems slotted in to max out''. Paying money only give a clear advantage in clearing solo content, it directly affects your ability to dominate in [=PvP=] and other timed events as well.

* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies 2'' does this in two ways:

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': Subverted, in an utterly bizarre move. The Blade system revolves around a [[GachaGames gacha mechanic]], finding cores and getting a random Blade out of it. Most of them are ComMons, and there are special ways to improve your chances to pull rare Blades. There are also merc missions, which tie into the Blade system, and require real-time waiting for them to complete. All of this is the perfect set up for a monetization scheme... but there's no way to actually ''pay'' to skip the grind. Many reviews noted that this was the weakest part of the game by far, and comes across as an AllegedyFreeGame that forgot to add a way to soak players for money.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 3D'' gives three free tokens for scanning Shulk daily. Granted, all these tokens do is allow you to unlock songs in the soundtrack or character models , so they have no real impact on gameplay at least.

* ''VideoGame/LoveLiveSchoolIdolFestival'' already bears a major staple of typical Japanese ''mobage'': using special rare currency that can be bought with real money or obtained in-game through special conditions to instantly recharge your stamina meter (rather than having to wait hours to refill it for free), continue in a failed stage, and ''gacha'' pulls for rare cards. However, this trope really kicks in during events: players try to build up event points by competing against other players in real-time (Score Matches) or grinding tokens to play a special event song that yields a lot of event points when played. There are set event point milestones at which you are rewarded prizes, from common rewards like Love Gems and G, to rare ones like the special event-exclusive card...except this card is ''non-Idolized.'' To get a second one of that card so you can Idolize it, you need to finish the event with a high enough ranking percentile. The best way to keep your rank up? Spend money on Love Gems to continuously refill your stamina for more chances to play for event points!

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfMajEyal 4'' unlocks unlimited lives mode and twinking for donators.

** Most notably, the Konisch gun. It's standard ammo has good armor penetration but abysmal damage. Gold ammo, however, allows it to hit ''harder'' than a gun it's size with armor penetration that isn't matched for another two tiers, and combined with the high rate of fire, excellent accuracy and aim time... it's a complete {{gamebreaker}} hampered only by the obscene expense of gold in this game.

** Another GameBreaker is the premium Hotchkiss light tank. Not unbeatable... unless you're one of the new players that encounter it in the starting matches and thus haven't learned it's few weak points, or are mounting a 20mm gun that many early tanks use which can't damage it at all. (Unless, of course, you use gold ammo. [[{{BribingYourWayToVictory}} That'll go right through it]].) One player fought 400 matches using ''only'' the Tier 2 Hotchkiss... and then bought an end-of-line Tier 9 Panther II thanks to all the xp they gained.

* Miss Bimbo is a 'sandbox' game, where buying 'Bimbo Dollars' will only get you more money to get cute clothes and spend on furniture, pet stuff, and various other items that you don't need. To level up in Miss Bimbo, you sometimes do need to buy clothes (sometimes specific - and expensive - outfits, sometime you just need a certain number of items in your wardrobe). Other times you need to have a certain amount of money on hand, a certain amount of "Bimbo Attitude" (which can be increased by things like buying a new hairstyle or paying a therapist), the best available (i.e., most expensive) home, or various other conditions which can definitely be met without paying a cent in real money through your character's in-game job, but can be met much, much, much faster if you're not waiting for your character's paycheck minus expenses to add up.

* In the long-since-defunct MUD ''[=MUDgik=]'', players could earn "orrins" either by direct payment or by visiting a page full of banner ads and clicking them to generate ad revenue. Orrins were the only way to maximize stats while staying at level one, which was essential to maximize character growth when leveling up (and was the only way to be taken seriously as a player).

* {{Creator/Nintendo}} has a variation of this that they like to call "free-to-start" games. This follows the standard model of FreeToPlay with premium currency that can be purchased with real money, except with the addendum that there's a limit to the amount of premium currency buyable, and upon hitting the cap the game will no longer take your money and instead give you a practically unlimited supply of premium currency. Games that use this include ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'', ''VideoGame/PokemonRumble World'', and ''Pokémon Picross''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'':

* ''Lord of Ultima'' plays this as straight as can be. Free to play, but one can purchase "diamonds" that in turn allow for the purchase of artifacts that give resources, build-time increases, etc. The game limits how frequently you can use them, though.
* ''{{VideoGame/Mabinogi}}'', as is typical for a Korean {{MMORPG}}, has a good deal of this. Originally starting as an AllegedlyFreeGame by restricting storyline quests, {{Empathic Weapon}}s, character rebirth (a vital game mechanic), and certain other content to paid subscribers only; the "Pioneers of Iria" expansion released all content to free players, including empathic weapons and free character rebirth. Despite this, there remain a considerable number of game-enhancing features that are only available in the premium cash shop, or to premium subscribers.

* ''My Muppets Show'' is another game based on the same principle as ''Simpsons Tapped Out''. You can get a certain amount of diamonds (the premium currency) for free, but not in the quantities needed to actually do much with them.

** At the game's peak, the game encroached into AllegedlyFreeGame territory, with paying players wielding cash-only gear that allowed them to move significantly faster, cash-only automatic weapons with near-zero recoil, even cash-only sniper rifles that were extremely light and zoomed in twice as fast while packing even more damage. Epitomising the problem were a pair of two cash items - first, the Satellite Scanner, requiring a cash-only character to use, that gave a ''temporary wall hack''; second, the Elite Moderator, that allowed the room host to ''freely, and at his sole discretion, kick anyone from the room''. While the latter was supposed to be protected against abuse by having the remaining players vote on whether the kick as "good" or "bad", a failure to vote counted as an automatic "good" vote!.

** Over the next few years, the "pay-to-win" character of Reloaded dramatically increased. New "skinned" weapon sets, available only from cash-only boxes or a $50 package, appeared. Many of the game-currency crates were replaced with ones with far poorer chances of getting higher-rarity items for a decent duration. A "Combat Grade" system was introduced that seemingly favoured those with a cash item that allowed infinite instant respawns. Nevertheless, even all that paled in comparison to the release of multiple characters and gear with stats that ''guaranteed the user to survive a hit from all non-legendary sniper rifles to center mass'', a pair of legendary SMGs that are a ''three hit kill'' on your average player, and a semi-automatic, one-hit-kill legendary sniper rifle that on release, fired as fast as the user clicked. There are thus complaints that the game has recently returned to AllegedlyFreeGame territory.

* ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'' can be completed without spending real money, but you can purchase [[PremiumCurrency Gems]] to speed up timers, buy more storage, refill the energy meter, and pop bubbled items before they turn into coins.

* Wajas is a breeding/adoptable game, in which you can buy currency called CWP with real money. Several items and features need to be paid for with CWP, and the most expensive stuff can cost as much as $60 USD. Most of what you can buy are either accessories, or custom Wajas, which mostly just sit there and look pretty. It's possible (and encouraged) to buy and sell CWP with in-game currency, but purchasing it this way is a ridiculously expensive and time-consuming method. Especially since the fastest way to earn in-game currency is to... sell the offspring of two custom Wajas.

* ''VideoGame/{{World of Tanks}}'' features gold consumables which can boost your performance a bit more than regular ones or fix multiple crew/modules at once. It also features gold ammo, which can turn an otherwise unwinnable matchup into a {{curbstomp battle}}. Usually though, they just increase armor penetration and make otherwise mediocre gun strong. You can also purchase premium tanks, but they are (mostly) equivalent or slightly worse than a top specced regular tank of the same tier, their advantage being dirt cheap running costs.

* ''[[VideoGame/ProjectBlackout Point Blank]]'' - [[SimilarlyNamedWorks Not to be confused]] with [[VideoGame/PointBlank the Namco game]], but this Korean MMOFPS is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff very successful in Indonesia]]. And you either need in-game point grinding (since the point reward often painfully small) to buy CoolGuns, or rent (yes, it limited from 3 to 30 days of "purchase") with real cash for instant (or even more) CoolGuns.

** When ''Diablo Immortal'' first released, it very quickly came under fire for not only how quickly and shamelessly it shoves pay-to-win mechanics in your face, but the layers upon layers of mechanics that encourage it. Despite the fact the devs said [[ExactWords you can't buy gear with real money]], paying for premium currency lets you buy crafting item and Legendary Crests, which are one-time use items used to increase item drops and are the only way to get 5-star Legendary Gems. Gems are the primary money sinks in the game, as to get a fully upgraded gem, you need to not only randomly find a 5-star Legendary gem, you need to rank it up by sacrificing more gems and max out Resonance bonuses by slotting in more Legendary gems. Players estimated you'd need to spend at least ''$100,000'' to fully max out gem bonuses... only for that estimate to increase to '''''over $500,000''''' after a few weeks later, when players discovered there's something called Awakening bonuses that needs ''even more Legendary gems slotted in to max out''. Paying money only give a clear advantage in clearing solo content, it directly affects your ability to dominate in [=PvP=] and other timed events as well.

** When ''Diablo Immortal'' first released, it very quickly came under fire for not only how quickly and shamelessly it shoves pay-to-win mechanics in your face, but the layers upon layers of mechanics that encourage it. Paying for premium currency lets you buy crafting item and Legendary Crests, which are one-time use items used to increase item drops and are the only way to get 5-star Legendary Gems (besides a painfully slow pity mechanic). Gems are especially egregious money sinks, as to fully level it, not only do you need to find multiple 5-star gems and rank them up to max by sacrificing more gems. Player then quickly discovered there's ''also'' something called Resonance bonuses, which give your character more stats the better all your equipped gems are. Someone estimated to get fully max out gem bonuses on one character, you'd need to spend at least ''$100,000'' to do so... only for that estimate to increase to '''''$500,000''''' after a few weeks later, players discovered there are Awakening bonuses that need ''more perfect maxed out gems to cap''. Not only will paying money give you an advantage in finding better drops and increasing your power level, it helps you dominate in [=PvP=] and other timed events as well.

* Cautiously avoided with ''VideoGame/BloonsTowerDefense''. Beyond the games' small intial price tag, there are in-game purchases you can buy with [[PremiumCurrency Monkey Money]], which are used to buy one-time powers, tower unlocks, special tower upgrades in the earlier games, and in the sixth game, [[SkillScoresAndPerks Monkey Knowledge]] points and Insta-Monkeys. However, everything can be unlocked after some time into the game, everything is beatable without using any premium items, Monkey Money can be gained by simply winning maps and doing events, and the hardest game modes prevents the use of BribingYourWayToVictory entirely.