“The Bazaar” is, unfortunately, the first time I have ever wanted a refund for a video game. Announced in 2018, “The Bazaar” was marketed as a roguelike, card auto-battler game that would solve the staleness many players had found with “Hearthstone” and the impatience of waiting for “Slay the Spire 2.” As advertised, the game would feature a varied deck builder, with player versus enemy (PVE) and player versus player (PVP) combat sprinkled in between runs so there would never be a dull moment. 

   The game’s creator, Andrey “Reynad” Yanyuk, is a former professional “Hearthstone” player that vowed to make a game built for players, and in return, received over $115,000 in donations via an Indiegogo campaign for “The Bazaar.” Fast forward to today, the game spiraled in popularity since its closed beta release in Oct. 2024, with popular video game sites like TheGamer calling the game “secretly this year’s best co-op game.” Because of hype and my recent love for card roguelikes such as “Balatro” and “Slay the Spire,” I bought the “founder’s pack,” granting access to the game’s closed beta and was ready to be wowed.

   Wowed I was. The presentation of this indie game is astonishing. There’s colorful characters, orchestral music and hundreds of skins, styles and card arts to collect. For a brand-new game, there were dozens of items to chase and plenty of features to interact with. The “founder’s pack” I bought unlocked three characters, Dooley, Pygmalien and Vanessa, with more planned for the future. I fell in love with playing the ranked game that was offered once a day with Dooley, stacking “friend” cards until I got the perfect run and winning every PVP battle I would enter. The more knowledgeable I got with my character, the more chests I would earn and the cooler my board would look with each game.

   There were few gripes I had with the gameplay loop. Some cards were too powerful, some were not powerful enough and there were not enough cards in the game to make every round feel special. With a few balance changes and an update or two with more cards and characters, the game would be almost perfect. More players were flooding in, and forums surrounding the game were resoundingly excited. The official release was sure to be an overwhelming success. 

   Then March 5, 2025 hit. The open beta was released to a resounding shock by fans and curious newcomers: monetization galore. The tickets to let you play ranked daily were removed, and the only way to play ranked was replaced with a price point of 100 gems – equal to $1 – the game’s purchasable currency. I can no longer play the mode to unlock chests and collectibles without paying an entry fee. 

   Card expansions were added with new sets to change up the game’s meta and widen the loot pool, which fixed my few gripes I had with the gameplay loop, but those now cost 999 gems – or $10 – each. The only current way to acquire them was to buy, you guessed it, the season pass (or the “prize pass” as it’s called here) that costs $10 per month.

   In response to these outrageous price models, the creator, Reynad, doubled down on his changes and ignored the critics. The promise that Reynad’s Indiegogo campaign had made that “‘The Bazaar’ is neither Pay-to-Win nor Pay-to-Play,” was broken, and all reputation the game had accrued during its phenomenal beta was shattered in a single update.

   I, much like many other players, will be looking to get a refund from Reynad and Tempo, the team behind “The Bazaar.” Paying a dollar every time I log in to play another round is not only miserable but also insulting. No matter how promising or fun a game can be, greed is always lurking around the corner.