Charterstone

About

Charterstone is a single player and multiplayer casual turn-based strategy game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Acram Digital and was released on March 26, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Charterstone: Digital Edition" is a digital adaptation of the acclaimed board game, where players construct the Eternal City over the course of a campaign with high replayability. Each game in the campaign has its own rules and objectives, with decisions carrying over and impacting the game's outcome. With no negative player interactions, the game encourages strategic planning and collaboration.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

+18

Skip User Reviews

76%

Audience ScoreBased on 374 reviews

gameplay18 positive mentions

stability26 negative mentions

The digital adaptation of Charterstone is visually stunning with beautiful graphics and smooth animations, enhancing the overall experience.
The game offers a fun and engaging legacy experience, where decisions made in one game affect future games, providing a sense of progression and strategy.
The automated management of resources and actions in the digital version simplifies gameplay, making it easier to focus on strategy without the hassle of physical components.

The game suffers from significant bugs and glitches, particularly in multiplayer mode, which can lead to frustrating experiences and campaign interruptions.
The tutorial and in-game explanations are often unclear, making it difficult for new players to understand mechanics and rules, especially without prior knowledge of the board game.
The user interface can be cumbersome, with important information hidden behind multiple clicks, which detracts from the overall gameplay experience.

gameplay
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
50%
7%
The gameplay is engaging and rewarding, featuring innovative mechanics and a gradual increase in complexity that enhances strategic choices throughout the campaign. However, players may face a steep learning curve due to a lack of tutorials and some minor bugs, particularly in the campaign mode, which can lead to frustrating experiences. Overall, while the core gameplay is well-received, the interface and organization of rules could benefit from improvements.
- “Nice graphics, great implementation of the rules, loved the gameplay.”
- “While the core mechanic of the game stays the same, the buildings and combos that get added to the board over the course of the 12-game campaign create a wealth of interesting choices and strategies.”
- “Gameplay itself is fun, interactive, challenging, and rewarding.”
- “So overall, this game is not for those who want to clearly understand mechanics based on description and rules before going into it.”
- “I encountered a couple of minor gameplay bugs, but more importantly, I've tried to play through the campaign twice now and each time my campaign was corrupted and became unplayable. The game gives you no way to move forward; the main GUI elements are there but nothing to actually play a turn or move to the next one. I should have asked for a refund the first time this happened; now I've played more than 2 hours and Steam is refusing to refund me.”
- “There are almost no tutorials or help for many mechanics; it's really brutal for new players.”
story
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
68%
11%
The story in the game is described as superficial and often difficult to follow, particularly in the digital version where players may miss key narrative elements due to poorly explained mechanics. While some players appreciate the unfolding storyline and its integration with gameplay, others feel disconnected and disappointed by the lack of depth and clarity. Overall, the narrative adds a layer of fun and competitiveness, but it may not be compelling enough to engage all players fully.
- “Very glad I purchased this digital copy; I think I have a decent grasp on the game now and am looking forward to seeing where the story goes.”
- “Expect a very simple game at first, which will accelerate in complexity and depth as the storyline progresses, with new ways to supplement your strategy unlocking with new rules and objectives.”
- “Never played the physical version, and I'm really enjoying how this game's story unfolds while playing the campaign. The physical version must be a joy to play, building the board with the stickers and the rules slowly unfolding.”
- “My only real criticism with the digital implementation is that you will miss the story or prompts for any ending when an NPC chooses the outcome.”
- “Every time an NPC met the charter goal, I had no idea what they chose or what was going on with the story and couldn't find a way to read the story that I missed.”
- “The problem is that this is a legacy game and all of the story events and rules changes are really hard to track.”
stability
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
93%
The game's stability has been a significant issue, particularly in its multiplayer mode, with users reporting frequent freezes, crashes, and various bugs that hinder gameplay. While single-player experiences tend to be smoother, the initial release was criticized for its buggy state, leading to negative reviews. However, subsequent patches have improved stability, suggesting ongoing efforts to address these issues.
- “Playing a single game or playing a series is easy and bug-free.”
- “This implementation is very buggy for multiplayer.”
- “However, this feels like it shouldn't have left the alpha stage yet; it's so buggy.”
- “It is incredibly buggy on all of the games I have played through, and it gets stuck with the AI even with the latest patch.”
graphics
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
31%
14%
The graphics of the game have been widely praised for their beauty and attention to detail, effectively capturing the charm of the original board game. Reviewers appreciate the clean interface and the polished visuals, noting that the artwork and music enhance the overall experience, despite some criticism regarding the repetitiveness of the music. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's appeal, making it one of the best adaptations of its kind.
- “Follows the board game faithfully, works well, very pretty graphics.”
- “Add in the lovely graphics and clean interface and this is one of the best board game adaptations I have ever played.”
- “I love the attention to detail, beautiful artwork, and soothing music!”
- “Like the actual board game, it looks like a children's game (not only visuals, but also the music and the app-like appearance of every new item).”
- “The graphics are as charming as the board game (which is charming), the gameplay is eclectic and lively, and the music is nice even if you'll wind up muting it soon after your first run simply because it's not varied, and you'll hear it far too much.”
- “Fourth campaign played all the way through with no problems (easy mode and reduced graphics).”
music
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
6%
19%
The music in the game is generally praised for its soothing quality and ability to set the mood, with many reviewers appreciating the attention to detail and beautiful artwork that accompanies it. However, some players noted that the soundtrack lacks variety, leading to potential monotony after repeated play. Overall, while the music enhances the experience, it may not hold up for long-term enjoyment.
- “The music is also well done and soothing.”
- “The hard AI is strong, and the background music sets the mood perfectly.”
- “I love the attention to detail, beautiful artwork, and soothing music!”
- “The music feels overly simplistic and childish, which detracts from the overall experience.”
- “The music is repetitive and lacks variety, making it easy to tune out.”
- “The soundtrack doesn't match the theme of the game, creating a disjointed experience.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
The digital adaptation of the board game significantly enhances its replayability, allowing players to engage in multiple campaigns with different participants. Users appreciate the varied experiences each playthrough offers, making it feel fresh and enjoyable every time. Overall, the campaign system and electronic format contribute to a much higher replay value compared to the physical version.
- “Since it's digital, you can play multiple campaigns with different people, adding to the replayability.”
- “I couldn't believe that I went through a whole campaign in just a few hours; good thing it is very different every time you play it, very replayable!”
- “This board game works much better and is far more replayable as an electronic version than as a physical board game.”
- “Since it's digital, you can play multiple campaigns with different people, adding replayability.”
- “Fairly faithful adaptation of the board game, and much more replayable.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Players find the end-of-turn gating somewhat tedious, but appreciate the improvements in automated bookkeeping that prevent the game from stalling while searching for cards. Overall, the enhancements help reduce grinding, making for a smoother gameplay experience.
- “Automated bookkeeping is always nice, and the game not grinding to a halt while people find the right cards in the box is a huge improvement.”
- “The end-of-turn gating is a bit tedious, but I'm not sure what the best workaround would have been.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, users report that the game runs smoothly, indicating effective optimization and a positive gameplay experience.
- “So far everything runs smoothly and the game is great.”