Free-to-play games or paid games, which do you prefer?

The biggest advantage of free-to-play games is that you can try them out before deciding whether to continue playing. If you don't like them, you don't feel like you've wasted money. However, some free games include a lot of ads, energy limits, or paid items, making premium (buy-to-play) games more appealing as you can enjoy the content with peace of mind after a one-time purchase. Still, if the quality of both games is similar, I'd rather pay for a game upfront than play a free one with in-app purchases.