You can actually get through the lower levels without paying, as long as you don't mind a few adds now and then. Of course, it does take a LOT of patience! Some levels I've had to play 25+ times before getting through it. The higher you go, the more lives it will take (took me 45 lives on level 812 to get past and I finally had to pay to complete). They really want you to invest $ to complete some of these levels. I've gotten bored at times and just left the game. At some point, if it keeps getting more difficult, may just have to uninstall and move on.