Brain Test 4: Tricky Friends

The ad economy and the offline paradox

Brain Test 4: Tricky Friends presents a curious contradiction. The game proudly advertises offline play — you can download it, disconnect from the internet, and solve puzzles anywhere. No Wi-Fi required. This is a genuine feature; the levels are stored locally, and the game runs smoothly without a connection. But here is the catch: the hint system, which is essential for progressing through the trickier levels, is locked behind ads. To get a hint, you must watch a video advertisement. Offline, those ads cannot load. So you are faced with a choice: play offline and struggle through puzzles without assistance, or connect to the internet, endure the ads, and get the hints you need. The game does not warn you about this dependency. New players discover it only when they hit a wall and realize they have no way to get help.

This design is not an accident. According to AppGoblin estimates, the game generates 56% of its revenue from ads and 44% from in-app purchases. The hint system is a primary driver of ad revenue. By making hints dependent on ad views, the game ensures that even free players generate income. But for offline players, this creates a frustrating experience. You can play for free, but you are essentially playing a harder version of the game. Some players have reported that the hint system sometimes fails to work even when online, requiring them to restart the app. Others have noted that the ads are so frequent — appearing after every level — that they disrupt the flow of the game entirely. The developer has acknowledged this in responses to reviews, stating they are "working to optimize" the ad experience, but the fundamental tension remains.

Comparing the hint system to Brain Test: Tricky Puzzles

The original Brain Test: Tricky Puzzles handled hints differently. In that game, hints were earned by solving levels or could be purchased with in-game currency that was awarded more generously. There was no ad requirement for hints. Brain Test 4 has shifted to a more aggressive monetization model. The hints now require ad views, and the currency system (gems) is more tightly controlled. This change has not gone unnoticed by veteran players. Many have commented that the newer game feels more "pay-to-win" or "watch-to-win." The puzzles themselves are still clever and creative, but the barrier to getting help has been raised. In the original, you could save up hints and use them strategically. In Brain Test 4, you are forced to watch an ad every time you need assistance, which can feel punishing.

The difference is starkest in the later levels. Around level 300, the puzzles become genuinely difficult. They require lateral thinking and experimentation. Without hints, you might spend twenty minutes on a single puzzle, trying every possible interaction. With hints, you can get a nudge in the right direction and move on. But watching an ad for every hint adds up. Players have reported spending more time watching ads than solving puzzles. This is a common complaint in the app reviews. One user wrote: "何かするたびに広告閲覧を強制される。酷いのは広告を見ないとボタンが押せないとか。" which translates to "I am forced to watch ads for everything. The worst part is that you cannot press buttons without watching ads." This is the reality of the game's design.

What the version history reveals about development priorities

The changelog for the current version is brief: "We have added Social Login support. You can now securely save your progress and seamlessly access your profile across devices." This is a welcome addition — it allows players to sync their progress across devices, which is useful for those who play on both phone and tablet. But the changelog does not mention any fixes for the ad frequency, the hint system bugs, or the performance issues that players have been reporting. Looking at the version history from third-party sources, we can see a pattern. Version 1.13.0 had a changelog of "Bug fixes and performance improvements." Version 1.14.0 (iOS) also had "Correction de bugs." The pattern is consistent: vague promises of fixes without specific details.

What has actually changed? The APK size has grown from around 79 MB in earlier versions to over 227 MB in the latest version. This suggests the addition of more levels, more assets, and possibly higher-resolution graphics. The game now requires Android 4.4+ (up from earlier requirements), which is a reasonable baseline. But the core issues — the ads, the hint system, the occasional bugs — remain unresolved. The social login feature is a quality-of-life improvement, but it does not address the fundamental friction points. This is a common pattern in free-to-play games: new features are added to attract and retain users, but the monetization engine is left untouched because it is generating revenue. The developer, Unico Studio, has a portfolio of over 30 games and has surpassed 1.6 billion mobile downloads. They know what they are doing. The ad model is working for them, even if it frustrates some players.

A niche use-case: playing Brain Test 4 on a tablet with a stylus

Here is a scenario you might not have considered: playing Brain Test 4 on a large tablet with a stylus. The game's touch targets are large enough for fingers, but a stylus offers greater precision. This is particularly useful for puzzles that require dragging objects to specific locations or tapping on small elements. For example, in Level 4, you need to swipe the cloud away to reveal the sun, then tap on the biggest flower. With a stylus, you can make these gestures more accurately, reducing the chance of mis-taps. The game does not officially support stylus input, but it works. The responsiveness is good, and the stylus does not interfere with the game's touch detection.

However, there is a limitation. The game's interface is optimized for portrait mode on phones. On a tablet, the UI scales up, but the buttons and elements remain in the same relative positions. This can lead to awkward hand positioning, especially if you are holding the tablet with one hand and using the stylus with the other. The game does not offer any tablet-specific layout adjustments. This is a minor issue, but it highlights that the game was designed primarily for phones. For tablet users, it is still playable, but it lacks the polish of a tablet-optimized app. This is a niche observation, but it is the kind of detail that emerges only when you push the app to its limits. The game works, but it is not tailored. And for a free game with over 10 million downloads, that is probably acceptable.