I thought I should update my review or Curio Quest, because my first review was so poorly written.  I've played through the first three zones and I'm unsure how far a free player can get. So lI'll start out by saying that Curio Quest is little more than a very basic game that is designed in a way to generate loads of cash.  Everything in the game is available for purchase.  As a free player you can expect to spend about 10 minutes grinding battles before your action points (lighting bolt meter) falls below a useful level. Since AP regenerate in real time (1AP ever 3 minutes), you can go bugger off for several hours before returning to grind.  However if you want to open your wallet you can buy gems (with Kongregate Creds) so you can refill your AP.   If you have reached the end of a zone, you can click on the Quest icon on the main map a move up to the next zone or go back to an earlier zone and try it on a harder mode.

When you login, if it is a new day (or 24hrs from your last visit), you are given a reward as well as the option to spin a wheel for more rewards.  If you're playing for free this is the only way you'll earn Curio Gems.  There is a way to win gems in PVP, but I'm not sure how it can be done without buying gems first.  PVP uses tickets for each attempt to battle. Two are taken at the start. The game picks a "random" opponent which you can evaluate by the win/loss values. If you think your chances of winning is low you can have the game pick another opponent at the cost of an extra ticket or you can flee and loose your tickets.  It seems that the game's random pick is not very random (I once got the same overly buff opponent three times in a row). 

If you're going to open your wallet for AP, you might also want to buy Premium Discs which allow you to get the best stuff in the game.  However, you don't get to just buy the best items (curios or boosts).  The shop is set up into two zones, the Premium section has 20 curios with about half being powerful two star ones, 3-4 three star ones and 1-2 four star ones, while the freemium sone has 15 curios of which 1-2 are 2 star and the rest are 1 star.  The more stars, the more powerful the curio.  Players don't get to pick the one curio they want, instead they have to gamble. It's essentially a slot machine. The player can put in twenty coins and never get the one they want. Unwanted curios can be exchanged for XP, which can be used to level your primary curious.

Game play is very basic. Each area requires that your curious battle enemy curios, letting you move on if you win.  Combat is simple.  Your curios have up to 4 actions to do in battle. The amount is based upon which skills you train when your curio gains a level.  Combat is turn based,  consisting of attack, buff and debuf actions. Some skills are combos, attacking and debuffing at the same time.  You can battle with three curios, when one is defeated you can pick another to finish the battle. When a battle ends, you can pick how the experience points are divided among your curios and there is a slight chance that you will find some DNA of an opponent curio to clone. You get two options, either spend coins and get a chance of getting the curio or you can spend gems and almost always get it.  The better the curio, the more coins it costs to TRY and the LOWER your chance of success.  After battle you are greeted with the main map and all your curios ae fully healed. 

There is an in-game Lab to make a curio with in-game items. I've only got 1 that I can make and did so as part of the game's tutorial.  You can also exchange and upgrade boots (components are rarely awarded after battle.  There is also the clubhouse, which is the game's attempt to have guilds. You can make your own and have up to 30 members.  Clubs can battle each other. 

Overall the game isn't bad. The graphics are cartoony but in a nice way.  Animation is minimal.  Music and sound effects are fine.  However unless you are planning to pay for the game or are going to login every few hours to play for a few minutes and leave, there is very little appeal to the game.  Replay value is extremely low.  The gane isn't hackable sinch the game is hosted on a remote server.  That doesn't mean it can't be hacked, but that it would be more hassle than its worth and most people don't want to interfere with someone's profit (or lawyers).