Not worth all the money youll have to spend

So let me first start off my saying, I LOVE Voltage games. Because of that, I am definitely not a stranger to spending my own money on iPhone games. I am also a HUGE fan of Gossip Girl, so this game seemed like a no brainier for me.

But I am going to let you know that there is literally NO way to get through this game without spending your own money. And Im talking A LOT of it. Ordinary Voltage games have the love interests that you can choose from, and the entire STORY for that love interest is $3.99. I used to buy one a week, including sequels, epilogues, side stories, whatever.

THIS game follows a different system though, making it so that you have to have "love passes" to read on throughout the story, and only receive three every morning at 11:00am. If you want to read more, you have to purchase for real money. The chapters are also very short, so you feel pretty disappointed when you have three love passes and they are gone within about three minutes of reading. That isnt so bad, although Im a binge reader I can wait until the next day -- the real money-sucking moment is when, once every chapter or couple of chapters, you cannot move on without either a.) having the right outfit that you have to purchase with gems or b.) having the minimum "style factor" requirements.

Gems are NOT easy to come by; you get one every couple days if you log in EVERY day and receive the login prize. If you hoard them, you could PROBABLY make it by, but I doubt it. Sometimes, you can earn gems from reading the story during "promotions"; but how can you do that when you cant move on in the story to begin with because you dont have enough gems? I ended up begrudgingly having to purchase some in order to move on in the game after waiting a couple weeks and never being able to earn them.

The other part is the IMPOSSIBLE style factor minimums. I considered myself actually AHEAD of the game on the "style challenge" mini game that you can use to get your style factor up. But every time I am stuck there for another couple days/weeks because lets say my (above average -- at least above all of my "friends" in the game) style factor is 7000, the minimum to pass is 21,000! Are you KIDDING me?! You can buy style factor with gems (cha ching cha ching) or you can sit and collect the daily prizes, where you receive 500 style factor every 5 days. You can also borrow clothes from your friends to pass the style challenge, but they get harder and harder as well -- the style challenge I have now is for a dress and shoes that I looked for EVERYWHERE, but can only be found in a package of gems and love passes that you have to buy with your own money.

I have a little bit of disposable income , and I will warn that if you dont do not play this game -- theres no way to get through it. Even two months and over $50 later, I STILL have not gotten through the Alex storyline. Because I refuse to pay more money. Especially since the story isnt even that good to begin with, I was just excited to be placed in the Gossip Girl story and wanted to see what happened.

Word of advice -- if you want a good story, try some of Voltages other apps, like My Killer Romance, Speakeasy Tonight, or To Love and Protect. Those are all great, and cheaper in the long run to get through a story. Because this one is definitely not worth your money.

Bmzmuffin about Gossip Girl: PARTY