Netflix has Android games, and they're actually good!? Reviews of Dragon Up, Krispee Street, Word Trails 📺
Netflix has been nudging me to try their games for months, and I’ve completely ignored them all. I finally caved, and discovered there’s some surprisingly good games in there!
So what are Netflix games? Well, they’re completely free (no ads, no purchases) games provided to Netflix subscribers, kind of like Xbox / Google Play game pass. Most of these games are modifications of ad-supported games to provide all content for free.
Many years ago Amazon had a store with similarly modified games, Amazon Underground. Whilst the store was unfortunately shut down in 2019, it was an interesting way for developers to earn additional revenue (my game was included, and earned… very little).
#1: Dragon Up
This is not a brain-meltingly complicated game. Dragon Up is a very standard “upgrade & automate currency generators, complete quests for chests / card / currency, prestige and start again” incremental game.
Review
The gameplay is very simple, just completing repetitive quests (earn x currency, upgrade x, etc) for cards to upgrade your dragons and areas. These dragons will then earn you gold, which is also required for upgrades.
What makes the game enjoyable is the slick presentation, with little quality of life features like showing the estimated time until enough gold is earned for a quest or highlighting any available chests / upgrades.
There is a storyline, but it’s unfortunately very childish and “quirky”. Luckily you can skip right past it (and all the chest opening etc) by spam tapping the screen, avoiding any cringeworthy cutscenes!
All the normal features of a commercial incremental are included, such as seasonal events, monthly quests, and a shop with time skips, chests, cards, and currencies.
Monetisation
As a Netflix game, there is no monetisation.
However, the gameplay is clearly balanced around advertising and in-app purchases, with their removal providing an inconsistent experience. For example, you can optionally double your earnings for 8 hours at a time, which makes no sense unless it’s an incentive to watch an advert! There is also a brief “loading” period before these rewards, clearly where an advert would normally be shown.
Similarly, NPCs will give you various currencies and adverts will appear for “packs” of items purchasable for gems… but you can’t earn any more gems than the game gives you!
Tips
- “Hearts” (and income multipliers) are earned at set upgrade levels for areas. However, these aren’t always round numbers, and might be at level 120, 225, etc.
- Claim income multipliers, chests, and items from NPCs whenever they appear, since there are no adverts required.
Screenshots
All screenshots are from version 2.0.8:
| Main game | Seasonal event | Cutscene |
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#2: Krispee Street
Did you ever read the “Where’s Wally” (also known as Waldo) books as a kid? They’d feature detailed, intricate scenes along with a few characters to try and spot amongst the chaotic scene. Krispee Street is essentially a digital version of this based on the Krispee webcomic.
Review
Whilst games like Hidden Folks are more widely known, Krispee Street’s sheer variety of animated “stickers” (characters) and the complexity of each scene makes them enjoyable to explore.
Each level will have 30-50 characters to spot, with each find earning you flowers that can be spent on powerups or coins. These coins are then used to purchase collectible cards, of which there are 142 in total. Each of these characters is uniquely designed and well-drawn, giving the impression of real personality.
The game controls very intuitively, with the ability to zoom in an out, and a circle of the character to find in the middle of the screen. A find is registered by holding this “crosshair” over the same character in the scene.
Krispee Street manages to add a surprising amount of features to a simple object finding concept, with the sticker album, collectible cards, an infinite “zen mode”, daily challenge, and a daily wellness spin (e.g. “Go outside for 5 minutes”).
Monetisation
As a Netflix game, there is no monetisation. Instead, it’s a calm game with no timers or prompts.
Tips
- Look at the target character’s background! The grass or lines will tell you which area to look for, narrowing down your search massively.
- I find it easiest to give myself brief mental notes whilst hunting (e.g. “orange rabbit on two vertical lines”) and then skim over the map quite zoomed out.
- “Flowers” should only be spent on the 5x coin earnings powerup, since none of the item finds are that challenging.
Screenshots
All screenshots are from version 1.0.11:
| Basketball court map | Street map | Collectible cards |
|---|---|---|
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#3: Word Trails
Despite seeing the non-Netflix version constantly in adverts, I had a great time with Word Trails! It’s just the very popular game (10M+ downloads) “Word Trip” with all monetisation removed.
Review
Gameplay is super simple, you’re just forming words to fit into the grid, similar to the board game Scrabble. You’re theoretically progressing through “cities”, with 20 or so levels per city, but this doesn’t actually change anything!
On each level you’re given a selection of letters, and need to spell as many words as possible, especially those that fill up the board. Bonus words earn you extra money (used for hints), so there’s no harm in trying everything that comes to mind.
Levels are typically pretty straight-forward, but it’s a good brainteaser, helping you remember (or discover) more obscure words. There’s also a daily puzzle that rewards finding words the “owl” is currently placed on.
Monetisation
As a Netflix game, there is no monetisation.
Tips
- The usual tips for all word games apply, such as:
- Also try the past / future tense of words too
- Always try adding “s” if you have one
- Always try 3 letter combinations even if you’re not sure
Screenshots
All screenshots are from version 1.10.2:
| Normal level | Daily challenge | Level select |
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