Is Tarisland free to play, and does it have pay-to-win elements?

Since the global release of Tarisland on June 21, 2024, many Western players have been wondering whether the title is free-to-play. The straightforward answer is yes - Tarisland does not charge any money up front to create an account and play. Although Tencent's latest MMO plays by the usual f2p mobile game rules, it does have some propensities many mobile games fall prey to.

While some MMORPGs like Black Desert Online have regional availability on their free-to-play model, Tarisland is f2p all over the world. That being said, it has in-app purchase elements that might make some players cynical about how undiluted the free-to-play experience is. In this article, we will look at how authentic the brand-new title's free-to-play aspects are.

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How free-to-play-friendly is Tarisland?

Tarisland is free-to-play at the moment, but has some monetization woes (Image via Tencent)

As of its global release version, Tarislands can be considered free-to-play-friendly. You can beat all content and progress in all avenues in this MMORPG without spending a dime.

If you are a player who likes getting fair and balanced free-to-play models that allow you to progress without paying, Tarisland is currently at an acceptable state of play for that. However, 'Currently' is the keyword here, as the game is still in its early years. How its updates will pan out over time may change how 'f2p-friendly' it remains.

If you're on the fence, it would be best to look at the type of monetization it has right now.

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Do you need a monthly sub or premium to play Tarisland?

Tarisland does have a subscription model through a 'Ticket system', but this is not necessary to progress in the game, or enjoy its seasons system. The Tickets only offer you some quality-of-life privileges like higher XP, lower trade tax, free item listing on the trade center, and so on.

There is also a premium-only track for Tarisland's battle-pass system, but it uses the same logic as the Ticket system. You do get some exclusive goodies, but nothing that would deter the non-premium player's progression rate through the free track.

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Is Tarisland pay-to-win? Monetization options explored

Gems can be bought with Gold, and Gold can be bought with Crystals (Image via Tencent)

In its current version, Tarisland does not have non-cosmetic monetization elements that can be considered directly pay-to-win. However, there are certainly some pay-to-progress avenues.

Today's version of Tarisland fares better in terms of being 'pay-to-win' compared to the betas. Earlier, it was possible to buy best-in-slot items directly in exchange for the premium currency, similar to Diablo Immortal, another MMORPG available on mobile devices. Thankfully, this is a thing of the past now.

However, some traces of similar pay-to-progress elements remain in the current iteration of Tarisland's economy. The premium currency is called 'Crystal' - for which, the most value-for-money package is roughly $120 for over 7000 Crystals.

The only pay-to-win aspect of Crystals is the ability to sell them to other players for Gold Coins. Gold Coins can be used to buy Gems, level up your Emblems for better rolls, or Empowerments to temper your equipment to improve them with build-specific desirable attributes.

However, Gold Coins can also be earned through in-game activities, meaning that there are no hard limitations on a free account to progress. The pay-to-progress element in Tarisland is thus similar to Lost Ark, although with less drastic perks, and free players can still maintain a reasonable rate of progress.