Is it just me or does Harem Heroes seem a bit of a scam?

[Biodeamon]

So I've playing the game for a while and so far I haven't unlocked any new girls besides the starters. Even with girls I do have I've barely unlocked anything with them because the game is miserly. I can barely get enough money sometimes to progress further in the story, and with that eating my funds I don't have enough for any upgrades. I did some research on the wiki and it turns out there are only like 10 actual girls to collect. And that being said most of them are for a gacha you have to pay nearly a dollar just for a chance at one of them. A guarantee for one girl costs 900 gold, whereas other games that would net you at least 5.

The high difficulty of being able to accomplish anything with the limited resources at hand, without resorting to paying money makes me feel a bit suspicious. That mixed with lack of content makes me feel a bit like this is a swindle, compared to the quality of other games here.