Is AFK Journey Free to Play Truly Free?

AFK Journey is an online free to play multiplayer game. For most games of the genre, “free to play” is just an illusion as you have to spend unholy amounts of money to progress. Is AFK Journey the same?

The Ethereal RPG, AFK Journey, garnered massive attention in a very short time. The free to play game has gained an immense amount of popularity and exposure through its comprehensive advertising campaigns across various social media outlets. Many YouTubers have been sponsored by the game showing off how good it is.  Its widespread presence has made it nearly impossible to not come across the name of this game, showcasing its massive reach and impact on the mobile gaming industry.

AFK Journey is advertised as a free to play RPG. However, many games advertised in the same way often hide a lot behind closed doors. Games like Raid Shadow Legends which has been a staple of YouTube sponsorships are also advertised as a free to play game. Raid, however, does not tell their viewers that to make any sort of progress in the game, players have to put in their life savings.

That being said, people have been skeptical about how the free to play features in  AFK Journey are. Does the game scam you under the false promise of being free to play or is it actually free? We aim to answer that question in this article. We will break down our discussion into two parts. Single Player mode and Multi-Player Mode.

AFK Journey Free To Play in Single Player

AFK Journey provides a variety of game modes, an open world and a story mode for a player to take on. The game provides the player with many ways to progress through the game and receive rewards for doing tasks. Players are also rewarded for not doing anything as it's an idle battler. Even when offline, players still get constant rewards from the game. 

The constant rewards can range from food for your characters to character upgrades. This makes it extremely easy to level up your characters without having to spend money on the game. Daily rewards are also very generous providing good items for players to unlock. Additionally, the game is offering all its characters for free during the first month since its release. These are not limited-time free to play characters but a lifetime unlock. Players have to complete challenges to do so. These challenges are actually fun to do instead of the grindy nature of most free to play games.

The game's gacha system is incredibly impressive and well-designed. The players can garner nearly 200 summons, which are entirely free of cost. The game rewards players with these summons by merely playing the game, allowing them to achieve it without any additional investment. The game's AFK feature takes its name quite literally, allowing players to be ‘Away From Keys' and still receive rewards, making it incredibly convenient for players who may not have the time to play continuously.

Players do not have to spend money to progress through the game and some of the game modes. The main factor to excel in the game is hero formation instead of strong characters. A well-made team can sweep through the game with no problems. You can also excel in the Dream Realm as most bosses can be cleared through proper planning and equipment. The same goes for Legend Trials. Both modes can be completed for great rewards. This further solidifies how free to play AFK Journey is.

AFK Journey also avoids one of the worst things free to play mobile games do. It does not have an energy meter. Most free to play games like DMC: Peak of Combat have energy, in DMC’s case Pizza, that is used up every time you participate in any in-game event. This can range from doing a story mission to going online for a battle. The only way to get the energy back is by either waiting for a certain amount of time or spending money to buy energy.  AFK Journey does not have that. The only way you can stop playing the game is if all your characters run out of health and cannot progress further.

AFK Journey Free To Play in Multi-player Mode

AFK Journey has PVP modes in it. These modes pit you against strong players that you can battle and the stronger team comes out victorious. This is the only place you can choose to fork over some cash. This is because while you can earn the heroes present in the game eventually, the meta-defining heroes always change. So, even if you have a solid team but do not have one of the top heroes, you are most likely to lose. Additionally, even if you have the best characters in the game it does not take long for the meta to shift.

When the meta shifts to another strong character, you may choose to just buy summons to unlock a particular character you want. The game also has a few ways in which you can do this by spending the least amount of money possible. If you play the game enough, you can unlock the Stargaze Station which allows you to pull a specific hero after a certain number of summons.

However, it is not impossible to win games online against players. Using good heroes and formulating a good strategy, you can overcome some overwhelming odds. If you finish the story, you are rewarded with really good items that you can use to persevere against tough opponents. You can excel from just the free to play aspects of the game.

AFK Journey is overall a very free to play friendly game. The game is not money hungry like other games in the genre. It provides a lot of content for not charging anything. Making in-game purchases is not necessary to get good at the game or even complete it for that matter. The only times you may want to spend money in the game is if you want to progress through the game fast or want a character as quickly as possible.