Does anyone know of games similar to Beastkeeper that don't feature freemium content? I have no problem paying for a good game; I'd just rather pay once and have the full experience rather than sinking an absurd amount of money into it over time.

The features that I truly care about are the genetics and some element of fantasy, sci-fi, etc.

Felisfire is pretty good! 

www.felisfire.com/?ref=1959

I love the breeding system, and the pets are fantastically done.

Sylestia also occupies my time: http://www.sylestia.com/register/?referral=775BC5C30E27F0E56211

Both are free... but they offer a great deal of perks to people willing to pay more.

They're both good games, but the Freemium system itself is just awful. I want to pay upfront and get a real game I can play when I want to, not this energy crap where I have to grind and then wait until the next day. Beastkeeper's $20/month premium is insultingly expensive and a perfect example of how absurd Freemium games are. I'd pay $5 for Beastkeeper on Steam, but of course there are plenty of people willing to pay lots more money than me, so it doesn't matter what I think. I just wish I had a better option in this genre of games.

Server based games NEED a monthly income, be it browser based, or mmorpg, or mobile games.

If the price in real money is too much, either you work hard in the game, or you just stick to the free features. Some games are way too grindy, or way too expensive, so leave them aside and keep looking, but you'll never find one that's not actually selling ANYTHING.

I find i can play Flight Rising quite comfortably, very pretty dragons are cheap in the auction house. Occasionally I'll make a ton of profit from getting monthly items and selling them later, enough money to buy a few of those expensive genes.

1. There are thousands of server-based games on Kongregate that handle the logistics without passing the charges onto players, as well as many more on Steam that subsist easily on one-time purchase fees. The Freemium model is in every way worse for consumers; it just gives the illusion of cost-efficiency and generates a lot of money off a few people. Having worked in the industry, I know the numbers don't add up, which is why I'd rather pay up front for a legitimate purchase than a laughable $20 a month. Netflix, with a MUCH higher relative traffic load, operates efficiently for less than that, as does Spotify in spite of being a free service. The math does not add up and I am not contributing ridiculous amounts of money to it. 

Aywas is a fun game with a fantasy type thing and various pets that can even have customs of. Upgrades there cost a mere $20 a year. Much, much less than BK in the long run. And you get a lot of perks for having an upgraded account. If you aren't already an Aywas member then I totally suggest it. And of course if ya join then use me as your referral if ya could. :3 I'm #3943 on there. Even if you already have an account then feel free to find me.

Thank you, that is a LOT more reasonable than BK, and I definitely wouldn't mind paying $20 for a whole year if I do end up joining. I'll be sure to use your referral when I register!

No prob. :3 Also another place I know of is mainly for dog lovers, but is very genetic based overall. And like Aywas is only $20 a year. It even has over 1 million members actually. Only if you're like a dog lover though. XD But if you like it I'm always willing to help ya out there too. Furry-Paws.

I'm a little confused, in your 1st reply to the first response you say "Beastkeeper's $20/month premium is insultingly expensive "...but I thought it was pretty clear that the montly premium here is 5$, not 20$. I even went and looked again to be sure. A 1 month premum upgrade is only 5$ not 20$. according to the premium shop. And actually, for 20$ you would get 250 Gold Coins (Which = 5 monthly premium scrolls (If you spent those coins only on the monthly upgrade) PLUS you get 1 free monthly upgrade scroll free, Which ALL in total = 20$ for 6 (That's SIX) months of premuim service here on Bestkeeper. So again, could you explain what you meant by the quote I took from your 1st reply?  Or am I missing something.

As for your question in general, people are pretty individualistic about the games they like. It's hard to offer opinions with people being so different in what they enjoy. There's games like Show Cattle, Pure Felinity, Kimeros, Sandbox Farm, Felisfire, Pony Island, Hakalovi and a literal plethora of breeding games that have various goals, pay scales, concepts, depths and complexities. Mostly the enjoyment of any of these games is restricted to what they offer that happens to tickle YOUR specific fancies as far as activites, depth of genetics,graphics and yes even ways to pay and pay vs free balance. It takes along time to find a few games that really have what YOU like to do or enough of it, to justify what you are willing to spend. I think BK (Mostly due to the extra GCoins and free scroll for 20$ + purchases) is pretty reasonable. It also allows you to be premium when you want and take breaks if your feel like it, without feeling that you are losing money when you aren't playing or have taken a little break..

I've played a lot of pet games but actually I can't remember any that would be cheaper than $5 / month if you're aiming for the top charts or collecting all the pets and items. And yes, you're six times wrong about the price of BK monthly subscription price.

All games where I've been an active player are a lot more expensive (say 50-60 bucks per month to keep the pace, and 100+ to get to the tops / collect each outcome unless you play it 24/7). Aywas is one of the most expensive games for their tons of premium only pets and items. Actually I'd call them not a game but a pet art / roleplay portal. FelisFire, their sister site, is better in terms of gameplay and closer to what you're looking for though I'm not aware about their monetization model, it's too long since I've been online there.

So this is the thing that I love in BK - you can "win" all events and achieve anything you like without paying a penny. There's no cash only pets and events. They sell only interface improvements in their subscription, so you can easily go without them. There are no "cheats" there that give premium users balance superiority. BK has the fairest subscription approach that I've ever seen, and it remains completely optional. Only Howrse had a similar approach but they changed it a while ago.

As for energy and other restrictions, it will be in any multiplayer game of that type, and they exist not because they want your money but because of the game genre and gameplay approach itself. And premium subscription doesn't change these limits in any way. Would it be a real-time or / and single player game we could discuss that, but it's turn-based and multiplayer. Also BK has always positioned planning and strategy to be the most imprtant factors, and they try to deter grinding while you want to remove this all and leave only grinding by removing energy limits. I won't play such a game, really. Your comparing with Steam isn't viable (unless we consider every event and Kami a DLC and sell them separately). Browser based games are all monetized in the similar way due to the restrictions of the platform, and they all need a persistent income to sustain the server and devs who spend hours of work everyday. I've read that you're a programmer, so am I. What's the problem to pay the sum that you earn for 1 hour of your work (or half an hour if you're a senior) and forget about it for a half of year? Guys here work hard every day for many hours doing the same work that you do, and you still think that it's too much? Why do you underestimate their job and their time so highly?

I also can't recall any games that are similar in the terms of genetics. BK is pretty unique here. Most of the games are just taking color genes and making a nice genetics calculator like the one that I use when breeding my real life finches :) I didn't play any other browser pet games that have stats depending on the genes unless we're talking about horse and dog competition sims but it's a different game genre, and it's definitely not what you're looking for.

yall want.. breeding games? ive played alot of them games and i myself a gamer may have a few i can say, flight rising is a good game, but theyre are puma pets, the genetics are crazy high and bueatiful patterns (god i cant spell) wolfplay is where you can breed but you have to wait actual days til she gives birth to only 3-2-1 cubs. chickensmoothie.. u cannot breed on there but you can collect cute little pets ^^. and he last one i can say is.. horse reality, again like wolfplay but u hve horses and can only breed at level 6 currently, now i shall leave. goodbye :D if you have a game for me ill be in my bed snuggling and playing lioden for 16 hours straight.

Equiverse is a genetics heavy horse breeding/showing game. https://www.equiverse.com/

Deluxe is 40 credits a year and 50 credits are $25 usd. Making in-game money isn't too hard, especially if you send horses to the riding school and stack money in the bank for that sweet sweet daily interest.

Auto-tools (very handy) are 2 credits each for 30 days, and you can buy as many as you want at a time, the time alloted stacks. And you can buy credits in-game from other players on a regular basis. The devs even put in a player-to-player credit sales page to make it easier if you did want to by credits. This credit assist just makes things you would already be doing go faster, and lets you have your own stable (saves in-game money) and a couple other totally non-necessary things, as basic is totally playable. If you get deluxe or auto-tools the time doesn't run out on you if you miss days of play.

There is no "energy" or "turns". You might run out of stuff to do for the day, but that applies to everyone, even deluxe members. There are special items you can buy with credits, but none of them are actually necessary for gameplay. Just little bonuses for those who can get them, like non-special or non-exclusive color tweaks, like removing a grey gene that would over-ride the other genetics, breed-again potions or a gender changeing tool if a horse has no foals. Not much lore and fairly realistic with the focus on genetics.

There are in-game money earning minigames and the art is quite nice. It is owned by the same people who have Lioden, but modeled a bit differently.

On that note, Lioden https://www.lioden.com/index.php  has a LOT more lore, and is far more in the fantasy arena. It is totally playable without Gold Beetles. I have never felt the need to buy Gold Beetles. I earn enough Silver Beetles. They hold big seasonal events. Lots of amazing art too. It does have the "energy" business, but there are mini games, chat, lore, active forums, and trading to fill the time.

I play Equiverse more than Lioden, and purchased the Deluxe acct. It is handy and simplifies the game for me, but I've played it without too. It isn't pay-to-win. "Winning" only comes with dedication and careful choices on Equiverse. Just FYI.

Flight Rising is a nice breeding game, it's all about dragons and you can earn the money necessary to purchase the dragons you want pretty easily. It doesn't really require any sort of premium when it comes to its mechanics and stuff.

https://www1.flightrising.com/

Wolveden is Lioden brother. 

Horse Reality is pretty cool if you like horses. Any premium content can be purchased with a currency you gain (delta points) by leveling up. You can also purchase delta points with your main currency (horse reality coins/hrc). I think the premium is very convinient, but it doesn't really make the game "easier", just more of a click and go. My name is High Definition/High-Definition on there if anybody does play or decides to play because of this comment :)