TLDR:: It seems unreasonable to me that for the game with some of the most interesting rewards, with some of the most attention from the dev team, for Reptile Roundup have the worst rewards system of any of the available games.
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I've read similar threads on this topic, and think the comments from people with worries about potential rarity/price changes with Reptile Roundup rewards are so fair.. BUT I will say that something with the rewards system should be changed.

Full transparency here as I am speaking from the somewhat biased pov of someone who is generally annoyed I haven't been getting the rewards I want, I also feel as though my situation is worth noting!

For the almost three months I have been playing Lioden, I have gotten 100+ points nearly every day. I don't submit my score unless it is over 100 points. Initially it took some time to get good enough at the game to achieve 100 points every day, but even considering that, I have submitted a score of 100+ what I assume is around 40/50 times on the same map, and have not gotten the background I'm trying for once. I only play on Fynbos for Namaqualand, and have gotten every available reward several times over, besides the background. I've wondered before if something with this item on this specific map is broken, but I think in reality I'm actually just very unlucky. I could afford to buy the background from branches, but I genuinely want to earn it for myself, I've spent so long trying for it, and would hate all of the time I've spent to be wasted.

I typically reach at least 100 points within 3-5 attempts, both on easy and hard mode, which is how i've been able to submit my score every day with so much consistency. There is a definite skill element to this game, and it sounds like most users have an extremely hard time getting to 100 points at all.
**Right now there is little incentive to get better at the game, unlock new RR maps, or grind for rare rewards because there is little reliability that you will even get the rare rewards as a somewhat skilled player, and the backgrounds aren't selling for an amount that would make potential weeks of gameplay worth it.

It makes much more sense to me to actually reward players who get really good at the game - it takes effort. With some more control over what rewards are available, frequent RR players could get good enough to make some sort of passive, but reliable income from the game that would make their effort more worth it - and the game more popular as a whole.


My suggestion:
Raise the number of points required to unlock rare rewards, but make those rewards easier to get from rng.

For example, if you score 200 points or higher, there are only three rewards available to win, and one of them is the background.
Maybe rewards stay exactly the same for anything under 200 points or maybe there is a different pool available for every 50 points. The pool is larger the lower the point value. Maybe between 50 and 100 points scored, you can win seven potential rewards, between 100 and 150 you can win 5 potential rewards.
This is similar to several other games on here, like Serengeti Shuffle, where a score of 4000 or 4500 points unlocks really good stuff from rng, but damn is it hard to score that high!

Right now there is zero incentive to score over 100 points, I've been inspired to test myself a few times, and have gotten like 170 just for fun, and I think with a little more effort I could get up to 200. It would be a cool challenge, and still incredibly difficult for the average player - keeping prices low for the rarest items. But* players are actually rewarded for achieving a score that high. Right now, not only is RR not particularly challenging for a player like me, but there is also little reward for even the moderate, yet highest required point value.

OR**

Attach rewards to specific point values, for example, if your score is over 100 (or potentially 125, or 150, or 200), and the last digit of your score ends in a 1, you get the 100pt reward (ex. 131/111/101) you score over 100 points with a 2 in the last digit, you are guaranteed to unlock the 75pt reward (112/132/102). All rewards would be split between common and rare, with rare rewards available over 100 points, and common under 100.
It is extremely difficult to get an exact point number playing on hard mode, maybe we change easy mode food to have a range of points (between 1 and 2) to make this more difficult. But knowing the rules, you could choose not to submit your score until you are certain you unlocked the reward you want.
I would also suggest we don't make these specific rule available in the RR wiki, maybe it's an inside knowledge sort of thing, and the average player just has the impression from the wiki that scores over 100 unlock better rewards.

I like this game but right now the only thing keeping me playing it is the background I want. After that, I have no reason to grind for more rewards because the chance of getting paid reasonably for my time and effort is next to zero. I'd love for this game to be a bit more worth it!