Hi! I am a retired mom and I play a lot of games, but I am by no means expert in all of them! Years ago i played "A New Home" and loved it. I have not played any of the sequels, but when I saw VV2 on my game company"s site, I had to have it. I play on something called a "desktop". I know most games are mobile, but I can't see anything so small, and ads and in-app-purchases drive me bonkers. I would be willing to pay up front to avoid them. So I bought this game, and found out too late that you cannot play it without them. Lavastones are too rare, and crafting is too hard without them.
I am not a person who resorts to cheats and hacks, so I hope that I can get some help here. Thanks!

Hello, welcome to the forums
I see we have a misconception here.
The game you bought is called VV: Origins 2 and it is actually the 6th game in series. It is the most recent one and is designed to have the today's standart "pay2play" concept where you buy in-app purchases. As such it couldn't handled perfectly to be a paid game.

Actual 2nd entry in the series is called Virtual Villagers 2:The Lost Children.
It was released back in 2007 and is what you're looking for if you want to pay once and enjoy forever.
http://ldw.com/virtual_villagers_2_the_lost_children.php

I am sorry that you bought a game you wouldn't want to. Maybe you'll get used to it in time. Or you can try the free version from Steam. In some countries it is also available to play in Facebook.
Hope it helps, don't hesitate to ask any questions. Have a nice day

Thanks for the answer. I suspected as much. Too bad, as I really like the game, but the play is so very slow without being able to get many Lavastones. That is probably why my game company had no reviews. I will tell them to delete it from where I bought it, as they may not be aware of this. I am one of the few shopping there.
HOWEVER, I will probably continue playing, unless I decide to play the series. I am old, and patience is my best virtue. That is, if the game can keep going this way. I have over 2 million tech points at the moment!

Thank you for your feedback on the paid version of the game.

The paid version of the game has had its economy re-balanced from the free-to-play versions, providing many free items!

There are many other ways to earn Lavastones and Tech Points apart from buying them in the Marketplace - you can earn them through random events in the game, the trading ship, exploring volcanic cracks, the daily reward calendar, the Lavastone Generator and much more!

Let us know if you have any other questions and thanks for playing!