Stacklands

About

Stacklands is a village-building game where you stack cards to collect resources, construct buildings, and battle creatures. Cards can be sold for coins to buy packs containing themed cards that expand your village. At the end of each moon, ensure your villagers have enough food, or they will starve. The game features over 200 cards, 60 ideas, and 50 quests, with combat against goblins, bears, and rats.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

96%

Audience ScoreBased on 10,718 reviews

gameplay389 positive mentions

grinding235 negative mentions

The charming, minimalist art style and soothing soundtrack create a cozy atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience.
The unique card-stacking mechanics offer a satisfying and addictive gameplay loop, encouraging experimentation and strategic thinking.
The game's humor and quirky charm, along with the ability to create deep backstories for characters, add a layer of personality and emotional connection.

The gameplay can become repetitive and grind-heavy in the late game, leading to feelings of tedium and micromanagement.
Many players report performance issues, bugs, and glitches that hinder gameplay, particularly when managing a large number of cards.
The story and character development are often perceived as shallow and lack depth, making it difficult for players to connect with the narrative.

gameplay
1,016 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
58%
4%
The gameplay of Stacklands is characterized by its unique card-stacking mechanics that blend resource management and village building, offering a satisfying and addictive experience. While the game starts off engaging and intuitive, many players note that it can become repetitive and grind-heavy in the late game, with some mechanics feeling tedious or clunky. Overall, the game provides a solid amount of content for its price, with a gameplay loop that encourages experimentation and strategic thinking, though it may lack long-term replayability.
- “The mechanics are intuitive and easy to grasp, yet they offer a surprising amount of complexity as you experiment with different combinations to unlock new buildings, resources, and events.”
- “Stacklands is a wonderfully engaging game that keeps you busy with its creative and addictive gameplay.”
- “The gameplay loop is satisfying and addictive.”
- “Honestly, this game gets really boring after a few hours of gameplay.”
- “The core concept is interesting and the gameplay loop is quite fun, but it kind of gets repetitive in the late game.”
- “The gameplay is too simple, and the story mode is equally lackluster.”
graphics
297 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
56%
1%
The graphics of "Stacklands" are characterized by a charming, minimalist art style that effectively complements its engaging gameplay. While the visuals are simple and cartoonish, they are praised for their endearing quality and ability to create a cozy atmosphere, proving that high-end graphics are not necessary for a compelling gaming experience. Overall, players appreciate the cute aesthetics and how they enhance the game's strategic depth, despite some minor performance issues on older hardware.
- “Stacklands is a lovely little card-based colony builder/survival game, with a very fun gameplay loop and a charming art style.”
- “The graphics are simple and charming and just lets you enjoy the core gameplay for what it is.”
- “The art style is amazing and pretty cute, 10/10 would recommend to other people.”
- “The graphics are simple, but impactful.”
- “The first of which is the fact that the kind of minimal aesthetic of the game really hurts your ability to be able to quickly see what is going on.”
- “I enjoyed it a lot, although I think that having better graphics wouldn't have been a bad thing, maybe some more creative art on the cards for example.”
replayability
253 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
54%
19%
The reviews on replayability are mixed, with many players noting a lack of depth and limited replay value after completing the game, often citing a playtime of around 4-8 hours. However, some players appreciate the potential for replayability through different difficulty levels, speedrunning, and the enjoyment of discovering various strategies and combinations. Overall, while some find the game engaging enough for multiple runs, many agree that it could benefit from additional content to enhance its replayability.
- “The roguelike elements, such as randomized card packs and the potential for failure, add replayability without feeling punishing.”
- “Incredible replayability and doesn't get boring.”
- “The replay value is very high; it's super fun to explore all the combinations and recipes to make new items and saving up or selling items to buy new card packs is super addicting as well!”
- “Sadly, rather shallow and without much replayability.”
- “Great game but sadly with zero replayability.”
- “The only downside is that there's no real replay value.”
grinding
251 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
5%
94%
The grinding aspect of the game is frequently described as tedious and repetitive, particularly in the late game where micromanagement becomes overwhelming. While many players initially find the gameplay enjoyable and addictive, they often express frustration with the need for constant resource management and the lack of automation options, leading to a sense of it feeling more like a chore than fun. Overall, the game is seen as a mix of enjoyable mechanics and excessive grind, with a significant number of players recommending it with the caveat that it can become quite tedious over time.
- “It's also not tedious like Cultist Simulator can be when you are being cautious, though I don't mind that personally.”
- “It can be whatever pace you want, and the crafting system is so convenient there's no grinding.”
- “Also, the game is not very long and is not grindy, so compared to Cultist Simulator, for example, this RNG aspect felt much better.”
- “Very well made game, but it's so grindy and dull to play that it may as well be a job that you hate.”
- “It's quite fun for the first few hours, but then by late game, it got super micromanaged having to craft every brick, drag every material to its location, and manage your villager food every day, making it super tedious and feel like chores.”
- “The problem is that it feels very whimsical and new at first, but quickly becomes tedious and repetitive.”
story
239 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
79%
8%
The game's story is generally perceived as minimal and somewhat lackluster, with many players noting that it lacks depth and complexity. While there are quests that guide players through gameplay and provide a sense of progression, the narrative is often described as simplistic or non-existent, leading to a feeling of monotony after completing the main objectives. However, some players appreciate the light story elements and the freedom to create their own narratives within the game, suggesting that the quest system offers enough engagement to keep them entertained despite the overall brevity of the storyline.
- “I've loved every bit of the combat, the storyline, and optimizing milkshake production for those sweet coins.”
- “With a cartoonish kind of look and a great and entertaining story with lots of things to do and explore, Stacklands is truly an amazing experience.”
- “It was an awesome surprise to find out the game had a story to it as well, and it really gives meaning to all you do.”
- “The gameplay is too simple, and the story mode is equally lackluster.”
- “I don't believe anyone can crawl through that 'story' and not feel annoyed by the lack of quality of life.”
- “Non-existent story, and the quests are basically just achievements and tutorials.”
music
134 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
52%
4%
The music in Stacklands is widely praised for its relaxing and soothing qualities, creating a cozy atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience. While many players enjoy the minimalist soundtrack, some note its repetitiveness and limited variety, wishing for more diverse tracks. Overall, the music complements the game's charming visuals and engaging mechanics, making it a pleasant backdrop for casual play.
- “Its minimalist art style and soothing soundtrack create a cozy, inviting atmosphere that’s perfect for unwinding.”
- “The music is so relaxing that you really lose track of time.”
- “The music is calming and the gameplay is extremely addictive!”
- “I believe the only thing that would upset me is the limiting range of songs, which is only like 2-3, with the background music of the mainland playing in the background being the one you hear the most over and over again.”
- “It doesn't have a special atmosphere, maybe because of the simplicity, and maybe because of the lack of background music.”
- “Really, the one and only issue I had was the monotonous music - the track is alright but there's merely one.”
humor
102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
1%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its quirky charm, funny card descriptions, and whimsical art style, which contribute to a lighthearted and entertaining experience. Players enjoy the game's silly mechanics and amusing events, often finding themselves laughing at the absurdity of the situations and characters. Overall, the humor is a standout feature that enhances the gameplay, making it both enjoyable and memorable.
- “The game’s humor and quirky charm, from its card descriptions to its random events, add a layer of personality that keeps the experience lighthearted.”
- “Awesome game with hilarious amounts of depth for what it is.”
- “It's funny and pleasing and I wish the chickens would stop knocking my stuff around.”
optimization
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
71%
13%
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players highlighting significant performance issues, especially when managing a large number of cards, leading to lag and battery drain. While some appreciate the strategic and micromanagement aspects, they express a strong desire for improvements in quality of life features and overall performance, particularly in late-game scenarios. Despite its charm and addictive gameplay, the lack of effective optimization detracts from the experience for many users.
- “Good game, but it can be a bit of an optimization puzzle at times because you can get stuck in a feeding loop where your whole day cycle is spent farming apple trees and turning apples into hotpots.”
- “Perfect balance of discovery, strategy, and optimization puzzle.”
- “A really cute and addictive game about micromanagement and optimization.”
- “Unoptimized to the point that it kills my laptop battery.”
- “Had the devs focused on optimization and quality of life with their big update rather than new content, I would probably prefer the new version over the old one, but as it stands, it is impossible to not play the game with time paused 95% of the time, because there are so many things to take care of at once, with little to no automation.”
- “It looks like an optimization problem, because the components are not utilized to 100% and performance drops proportionally as the number of cards on screen increases; performance after 200+ cards is terrible.”
atmosphere
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
47%
16%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a blend of a cozy, inviting environment enhanced by minimalist art and soothing soundtracks, creating a relaxing experience for players. While many appreciate the cheerful and colorful vibe, some critiques point to a lack of depth and challenge, suggesting that the simplicity may detract from a more immersive atmosphere. Overall, it offers a lighthearted and calming ambiance, ideal for unwinding, though it may not resonate with those seeking a more complex atmospheric experience.
- “Its minimalist art style and soothing soundtrack create a cozy, inviting atmosphere that’s perfect for unwinding.”
- “The game has a cheery, colorful atmosphere, well-served by simple graphics and relaxing music.”
- “A very cute game that begins with a relaxing atmosphere and your little villager foraging for berries, that gradually escalates to portals appearing, summoning bears that maul your little villager into little bits.”
- “It doesn't have a special atmosphere, maybe because of the simplicity, and maybe because of the lack of background music.”
- “It's cultist simulator without the story or atmosphere, translated to a civ framework.”
- “It's really just an extremely dumbed down version of cultist simulator and lacks any real atmosphere of its own.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
79%
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with many users reporting frequent bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, particularly in the card management and menu navigation. While some players find the overall experience enjoyable and note that performance is generally good, the persistent issues detract from the enjoyment and can make it difficult to fully engage with the game. Despite ongoing updates aimed at addressing these problems, the stability remains a significant concern for many players.
- “Great game, challenging and fun to play, runs great on Linux.”
- “The graphics are minimal yet appropriate for the title, the sound design lends itself well to playing the game while listening to a podcast or your own music, and the performance is bug-free and impeccable.”
- “Runs great.”
- “I like the idea of this game, but there are too many bugs and glitches that prevent me from enjoying or finishing it.”
- “If you press tab in the main menu, the game pretty much glitches out, and when you're trying to put a card over another card, it can't be removed from that pile.”
- “Overall, it's a fun game that you can tell a lot of work was put into, but it's only brought down by the bugs, glitches, and frustrating design choices.”
emotional
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a blend of humor and warmth, with players finding it both wholesome and creatively engaging. While some mechanics can lead to feelings of emptiness, the overall experience is described as heartwarming and fulfilling, with a charming art style and a delightful soundtrack that enhance the emotional connection. Players appreciate the sense of accomplishment and enjoyment derived from its unique gameplay and lighthearted themes.
- “It made me feel like I played for 20 minutes, but I played for 3 hours.”
- “The demon lord better be ready because they are all yelling 'hey bartender!' In the end, I managed to beat him without a loss, which surprised me yet made me feel accomplished!”
- “Heartwarming soundtrack, charming art style, and intuitive yet brain-teasing gameplay.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy is straightforward and transparent, featuring advertisements and DLC options prominently in the main menu. Players appreciate the honesty in the game's advertising, suggesting that those who are drawn to the store page will likely enjoy the game itself. Additionally, there are concerns about similar games on other platforms that may not offer the same experience without ads.
- “Advertising DLC in the main menu.”
- “I found a rip-off of this game on the Play Store and ended up finding the original in my pursuit to find one without ads.”
- “What the merge-2 mobile game ads dream about being.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
The character development in the game allows players to create deep backstories for their citizens, fostering a strong emotional connection as they witness the consequences of their decisions, even in dire situations. This immersive experience enhances the overall gameplay, making the loss of characters feel impactful.
- “I felt the power of creation as I named and developed a backstory for each of my citizens before sending them into an unwinnable battle. Watching them face their fate, I felt their pains and sorrows as their digital lives were extinguished. It was a profound experience.”
- “The character development in this game is incredibly immersive. I found myself deeply invested in the stories and backgrounds of each character, which made their journeys all the more impactful.”
- “Creating unique backstories for my characters added a personal touch to the gameplay. It transformed my experience, making every decision feel significant and emotionally charged.”
- “The character development feels shallow and uninspired, making it hard to connect with any of the characters on a meaningful level.”
- “I was disappointed by the lack of depth in the character arcs; they felt more like placeholders than fully realized individuals.”
- “Despite the potential for rich storytelling, the character development is lacking, leaving many characters feeling one-dimensional and forgettable.”