Card Crawl
- February 7, 2018
- Arnold Rauers
- 76h median play time
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.
Reviews
- Easy to learn and play, making it accessible for casual gamers.
- Fun and engaging gameplay with a charming art style and atmosphere.
- Offers a good amount of replayability with various unlockable cards and modes.
- Gameplay can become repetitive and grindy, requiring many wins to unlock features.
- Lacks depth and strategic complexity, leading to a feeling of simplicity.
- Some bugs and issues with game mechanics have been reported, affecting the overall experience.
- gameplay25 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally described as basic and limited, with a focus on simple mechanics that require minimal thought and math skills. While the card game offers engaging mechanics and a colorful aesthetic, many reviewers feel it lacks depth and long-term challenge, often leading to repetitive and grindy experiences. Suggestions for improvement include adding new levels, challenges, and gameplay modes to enhance player engagement beyond the initial hours of play.
“It's a great puzzle/strategy card game with plenty to unlock and work towards and sports great gameplay design with just the right mix of randomness and planning.”
“This bite-sized card-themed dungeon crawling semi-puzzle game takes a simple mechanic and gives life with a colorful world.”
“A good little card game, well balanced and fun, but it needs more depth, since its only 30-60 minutes of gameplay.”
“Very limited gameplay.”
“The gameplay and development decisions make more sense when you realize this was an Android game designed to draw people back on a regular basis to make ad revenue.”
“There needs to be different levels that add or change mechanics to make it a proper game with more than an hour's gameplay.”
- grinding14 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate that the game is heavily grind-oriented, requiring significant time and patience to unlock abilities and complete quests, which many players find repetitive and lacking in payoff. While some appreciate the casual nature of grinding, others feel it detracts from the overall enjoyment and strategy of the game, leading to frustration. Overall, the grinding aspect is a divisive feature, with opinions varying on its impact on gameplay experience.
“All of the other game modes are locked behind a lot of grinding for unlocks, and the base game is way too boring and straightforward to justify it.”
“I will have to mention that this game is super grindy; you need patience to collect enough gold to unlock all the ability cards, and even more time to complete the difficult quests and achievements.”
“Sadly, this game gets repetitive and grindy, with no payoff... the game is fun for a while and has potential, yet it's lacking something.”
- graphics13 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 23 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have been widely praised for their amazing and quirky art style, which enhances the overall atmosphere and gameplay experience. Users appreciate the stylish visuals and the game's ability to deliver a charming aesthetic, especially considering its low price point. While there were initial graphical glitches, these were promptly addressed by the developers, leading to a generally positive reception of the graphics across different platforms.
“The art style is amazing and quirky and really adds to the atmosphere.”
“It's so clever and has an amazing art style.”
“A really good dungeon crawler card game with amazing art style and cool sound effects.”
“This really sucks, because I like the art style and the gameplay... but the game won't allow you to proceed.”
“At first, there was a graphical glitch with the program on Macs, but the dev quickly fixed and patched the game.”
“Graphics and UI are fine for this type of game, and for the low price, I expect it will provide many hours of fun when I want to fire it up for some quick and relaxing games of crawling for those cards.”
- replayability11 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it infinitely enjoyable and appreciate the randomness that enhances replay value, others feel that the content gating and reliance on grinding diminish long-term engagement. The progression system and unique mechanics offer some replay potential, but strategy enthusiasts may find it lacking in depth.
“Super fun, easy to learn, and infinitely replayable. I absolutely love this game.”
“The game’s randomness with regards to what cards you are dealt, and which special ability cards are also randomly chosen for you, provide tremendous replay value for Card Crawl.”
“Great card game with good replayability and a nice progression system.”
“I don't much like that the vast majority of the content is gated unless you play through far more times than is merited by its replayability without such content.”
“So while this is good for killing time, it's not really something with a lot of replay value.”
“Without going into too much detail, strategy fans may find things a bit lacking in terms of complexity and replayability, and too much reliance upon RNG.”
- story8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game lacks a traditional storyline, focusing instead on a grindy system where players collect gold to unlock ability cards and complete cosmetic quests. While the quests are challenging and provide some visual variety through new heroes, they ultimately do not offer significant gameplay changes, leading to a repetitive experience. Overall, the narrative aspect is minimal, with the emphasis placed on unlocking content rather than storytelling.
“The quests are quite challenging but allow you to unlock new heroes, which gives the game a new feeling.”
“That being said, the quests and achievements do give you a reason to change your 5 ability cards in creative and fun ways.”
“[*] character quests offer visual differences only; potential for much more.”
“There is no storyline.”
“The problem is the quests and achievements.”
“I thought that doing the quests to open up the next character deck would give a different set of cards, but it doesn't.”
- music3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The music in the game is well-suited and pleasant, enhancing the experience without becoming repetitive, while maintaining a simple and stylish background presence. It complements the gameplay of the single-player dungeon crawler effectively, providing a relaxing atmosphere as players engage in combat and exploration.
“The sounds are good, suiting the game well, without getting too repetitive, and the music is pleasant, in the background where it belongs, and simple.”
“Graphics and music are easy and stylish.”
“It's a single player dungeon crawler where you equip items (swords, shields, potions), get loot (coins), and fight enemies (horrible, horrible things) while listening to some relaxing music.”
“The music is forgettable and doesn't enhance the gameplay experience.”
“While the graphics are stylish, the music feels repetitive and uninspired.”
“The soundtrack lacks variety, making it hard to stay engaged during long play sessions.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by engaging background activities in the tavern and a unique, quirky art style that captivates players. Many users express a desire for even more immersive details to enrich the experience further.
“The atmosphere in the game, with the little things going on in the tavern in the background while you play, is what makes it interesting for me, and I wish there was more of that.”
“The art style is amazing and quirky, and it really adds to the atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere in the game, the little things going on in the tavern in the background while you play, is what makes it interesting for me, and I wish there was more of that.”
“The art style is amazing and quirky and really adds to the atmosphere.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The monetization model is generally well-received, with users appreciating the low cost and absence of microtransactions, allowing for an enjoyable experience, especially when ads are removed. The game is considered affordable and stable, complemented by appealing graphics.
“No microtransactions, works stably, it's cheap and the graphics are very nice.”
“But you'll still have fun for a few bucks and a lot more fun without the ads.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has significant stability issues, with users reporting major bugs that detract from the experience. The presence of multiple developer troubleshooting utilities suggests underlying problems that have not been adequately addressed.
“It looked fun, but it's buggy in some pretty major ways.”
“The fact that it includes multiple developer troubleshooting utilities is a bad sign.”