Card Crawl

About

Card Crawl is a single player casual role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Arnold Rauers and was released on February 7, 2018. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

In Card Crawl, players battle monsters in a solitaire-style Dungeon Crawler using a deck of cards. Each run, players can equip 5 ability cards to create a mini deck and unlock additional ability cards for new tactics and higher scores. The goal is to clear the deck and defeat monsters to achieve the best score possible.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 620 reviews

gameplay42 positive mentions

monetization23 negative mentions

The game has a charming art style and engaging sound design, making it visually appealing and enjoyable to play.
It's a fun and strategic card game that offers a unique twist on traditional solitaire mechanics, providing a satisfying challenge.
The game is easy to learn and quick to play, making it a great option for short gaming sessions.

The game is heavily reliant on a paywall, with most content locked behind a purchase, which can be frustrating for players looking for a full experience.
Many players find the gameplay repetitive and lacking in variety, leading to a quick loss of interest after initial play.
There are numerous bugs and technical issues, such as freezing and audio problems, which detract from the overall experience.

gameplay
75 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
40%
4%
The gameplay is generally praised for its fun mechanics, intuitive design, and appealing visuals, making it accessible and enjoyable for players. However, many reviewers express frustration with the grind required to unlock new content, which can lead to boredom due to a lack of variation and repetitive mechanics. While the core gameplay is solid and engaging, some players feel that it becomes too easy or stagnant over time, suggesting a need for more diverse gameplay elements and quicker access to new features.
- “Intuitive gameplay and lovely visual aesthetic, good animation.”
- “The gameplay was unique in the sense that they mixed solitaires with dungeon crawling.”
- “Great core gameplay loop, delightful graphics and audio, and avoids all the worst impulses of current mobile games.”
- “Spending gold ends after a short while of consistent gameplay.”
- “Due to this not being able to unlock the next character, the lack of variation in gameplay soon gets boring as you master it quickly and the rest is up to RNG.”
- “The gameplay is very bare bones and you spend a lot of it waiting for animations.”
graphics
72 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
31%
4%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming and unique art style, with many users highlighting the beautiful artwork on the cards and the overall visual aesthetic. The sound design complements the visuals well, creating an engaging atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience. While some users noted minor issues like graphics glitches, the overall consensus is that the graphics are a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
- “The artwork on the cards is well done along with the UI and sound design.”
- “The art style is fresh, which really matters to me in a sea of lookalike action card games for mobile that are lacking in the design department.”
- “Wonderfully addictive game with excellent gameplay and gorgeous graphics!”
- “A simplified and uncredited rip-off of the tarot solitaire game 'The Fool's Journey' by Desmond Meraz, with fewer decisions and uninspired graphics.”
- “Update July 2021: The latest update introduced graphics glitches in energy save mode.”
- “Either way, the devs missed the mark in my opinion, which is too bad because I like the concept and aesthetic.”
monetization
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
25%
48%
The monetization model of the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating the absence of intrusive ads and the option for a one-time purchase instead of ongoing microtransactions. Users value the ability to enjoy the game without constant prompts to spend money, although some express frustration over the limitations of the free version and the necessity to pay for full access. Overall, the game is praised for its fair pricing and ad-free experience, making it a standout in a market often criticized for aggressive monetization strategies.
- “Monetization doesn't punish the player, and the unlockables end up way more rewarding than they seem initially.”
- “I really enjoy this game; I like that it's a game where you can buy it instead of microtransactions (I haven't been able to buy it yet, but as soon as I can, I plan to) and it's ad-free.”
- “My favorite monetization model: play for a bit, get a feel for the game, buy remaining features if you like it.”
- “Games with advertising are nice, but sometimes I want to buy a game and not unlock bonuses by watching ads or whatever.”
- “The only problem is: the microtransactions.”
- “I have 800 coins, but I can't unlock some of the cards because it forced me to buy in-game purchases.”
story
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
64%
10%
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth and engaging narrative, with many players expressing a desire for a more substantial storyline to accompany the quests. While the quests provide some challenge and replayability, they often feel tedious and grind-heavy, with unclear objectives and reliance on random elements. Overall, players appreciate the game's mechanics but feel it falls short in delivering a compelling story or character development.
- “The quests make the game and provide a lot of the challenge.”
- “I like the theme; it immerses you into the story.”
- “If I were looking for any content, I wish there was a quest mode with the characters having funny stories!”
- “The quests and challenges are built more around grinding than making things more entertainingly difficult.”
- “Even worse is the confusing quests to unlock other heroes.”
- “Lots of replay options though the quests are just a handful of difficult things that feel like a grind to get as they rely on a good deal of cards.”
replayability
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
34%
14%
Overall, the game is praised for its high replayability, with many players finding it addictive and engaging due to unique challenges in each playthrough. While some users note that replay value may diminish after mastering the game, others appreciate the strategic depth and variety offered through ability cards and unlocks. However, a few critiques mention issues with gameplay complexity and accessibility that could hinder the experience.
- “Each play-through has its own unique challenges, which gives it incredible replay value.”
- “The simple-yet-challenging, fun-loving, endlessly replayable mobile game I've been waiting for.”
- “Fantastic design, balancing, and replayability.”
- “The game has decent replayability, but at the end of the day, you're just playing against the same deck of cards over and over, save for new ability cards.”
- “Not much replay value once you've beaten it, but I will still whip it out and play it.”
- “It appears to be a simple, quick game with little replay value.”
music
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
27%
17%
The music in the game is widely praised for its whimsical and catchy quality, enhancing the overall experience with enjoyable sound effects. While many players appreciate the art direction and the fitting soundtrack, some have reported issues with sound distortion or continuous hums. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's charm and replay value.
- “I really enjoy Tiny Touch Tales' signature whimsical art and catchy music.”
- “The art is great, the music and sound effects are excellent.”
- “Beautiful, timeless, amazing art and fitting music.”
- “But the music still plays from the merchant, and restarting didn't stop it.”
- “Only issue that I'm having now is that the sounds and music have been replaced with a continuous robotic hum.”
- “Music might fit, I guess.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often detracting from the enjoyment of the gameplay. Many reviews highlight that the quests and progression require excessive grinding to unlock abilities, cards, and modes, leading to a sense of monotony. While the base game has potential, the heavy reliance on grinding and RNG elements makes the experience feel unnecessarily drawn out.
- “The quests and challenges are built more around grinding than making things more entertainingly difficult.”
- “I enjoyed the base game enough to drop the money on the full version, but it quickly became apparent that there really wasn't any value add -- took less than a full day of playing intermittently during my downtime before it went from a cute, fun little time-killer to a tedious grind.”
- “Super grindy, takes forever to earn abilities, which are the only interesting part of the very repetitive gameplay.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is characterized by beautifully quirky artwork and engaging audio, creating a unique and enjoyable experience. Players appreciate the combination of humor and aesthetic appeal, which enhances the overall charm of the simple yet captivating card game.
- “Beautifully quirky, atmospheric artwork and a sense of humor make this one of my favorite little time-killers.”
- “It's a simple but unique card game with easy-to-understand mechanics, gorgeous artwork, and atmospheric audio.”
- “I love the atmosphere in the games made by Arnold Rauers and Tiny Touch Tales.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been reported to have significant stability issues, including bugs that affect gameplay and graphics, particularly after the July 2021 update, which introduced new glitches in energy save mode and problems with discarding cards.
- “The game is also very buggy.”
- “Update July 2021: the latest update introduced graphics glitches in energy save mode.”
- “Also, discarding cards is a bit buggy for me.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as beautifully quirky and endearing, complementing its atmospheric artwork. Reviewers express a desire for more content, particularly a quest mode featuring humorous character stories, indicating that the existing humor adds to the game's charm.
- “Beautifully quirky, atmospheric artwork and a sense of humor make this one of my favorite little time-killers.”
- “If I were looking for any content, I wish there was a quest mode with the characters having funny stories!”
- “The art style and humor are endearing as well.”