It doesn't have to be free to play, they just need to release a demo. But really, it all depends on how its handled on release.... I will only buy one if its reputation goes up post launch.
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Even demos end up trying to trick the consumer. All the time I see on the markets "Free!" or "<game name> LITE!" only to find out it's not a free game, but actually a demo. But instead of calling it a demo they'd rather trick people into downloading the game thinking they'll get more out of it then a demo. Even large publishers are doing that. I downloaded the Sonic 4 Lite on the iOS, because Lite was intended to be a free version of a game(you know, with ads or some other way to make it available) but instead it was only a single level... but of course it's a full-game download because they want you to pay for the rest of the levels. In the end though the game was nothing but a demo, but they don't want to be upfront about that sort of thing. It's all deceptive.