The game is free for anyone to enjoy. I have not been playing long, but still I am building up nicely without the use of the online shop. I love people who come in here and start complaining about how it isn't free, there is a simple solution to that This game is set up like most other "free" games, with an in game shop that can be used to by upgrades for the folks that wanna be tough but don't want to put any time or effort into leveling. Don't get me wrong, not all people using the shops are doing it for this reason, but usually the people that all time complain about it are.