Many, many games follow this same pattern - start out relatively fun and reasonable, quickly devolve into a number decrementing simulator; a timer-fest designed to annoy the player into coughing up money to make any meaningful progress.

Clash of Clans is the one that's at the top of the free charts right now, and its entire mechanic is based around this.

Perhaps the "free-to-play industry" needs some offending. Their entire business model is exploiting vulnerabilities in the human decision making process. It's exploitative and rotten.

I remember honest games. I want those back. Now even some paid games are infected with this F2P schlock.