Sid Meier is not a fan of "freemium."
The model of giving a game away only to charge for extras such as new levels, features, or power-ups, has swept up the mobile gaming industry, much to the chagrin of gamers who would prefer to pay once for the complete experience.
Meier, a legend in the gaming business thanks to his beloved "Civilization" franchise, couldn't agree more.
"It's about designing unhappiness," Meier told CNET in an interview on Friday. "You have to design a game so not fun that people will pay to make it fun. That kind of goes against the grain of game design."
Meier's new game -- and first foray into the mobile world -- is "Sid Meier's Ace Patrol," a turn-based strategy game based on World War I fighter planes. Rather than embrace the freemium model of many others, he is using a "try to buy" model in which the first few levels are free, and each nationality is $1.99 (for a total of four). The entire game can be purchased for $5.
