Glossary:Free-to-grind

References

↑ Assassin’s Creed®IV Black Flag™ Time saver: Technology Pack (DLC) - last accessed on 2020-04-19
"This pack will save you time by revealing all of the collectibles locations on your map. Note that you will still need to travel to these locations and beat the game play in order to get the rewards."
↑ League of Legends - MICROTRANSACTION.ZONE - last accessed on 2020-04-15

Definition
Category Glossary
The main gameplay unlocks/goals of the game can be achieved through grinding or naturally in gameplay without real money payments.
Examples
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag sells "Time saver" packs e.g. selling map locations, but players can be find these locations without purchasing the pack.^[1] League of Legends unlocks can all be be achieved without real money purchases.^[2] Apex Legends unlocks can all be achieved without real money purchases.
Notes
The category is designed to be a rebuttal to the criticism 'The game forces you to buy microtransactions', but for 'free-to-grind' games, 'everything you would want (gameplay) can be unlocked by playing or grinding'. Free-to-grind means you have freedom to choose to grind to unlock content within the game - regardless of whether an initial purchase was required or not to access the game itself. Time Is Money (Pay-To-Skip)