Stormbound

"Stormbound: PVP Card Battle" is a turn-based tactical game where players craft decks from collectible cards representing four kingdoms' forces and engage in real-time PVP card battles to dominate the board. Each kingdom has unique advantages, and strategic card placement is crucial to outsmart opponents in this immersive and epic clash of powers.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

69%

Audience ScoreBased on 605 reviews

gameplay47 positive mentions

monetization11 negative mentions

The game features unique mechanics that blend card play with tactical board movement, making for engaging and strategic gameplay.
The art style and graphics are visually appealing, enhancing the overall experience of the game.
The community is active and knowledgeable, providing support and strategies for new players through platforms like Discord.

The game is heavily pay-to-win, with players who spend money gaining significant advantages through card upgrades and stronger decks.
The progression system can feel grindy, with limited rewards for wins and a slow accumulation of resources needed to upgrade cards.
Matchmaking can be frustrating, as players often face opponents with much higher-level cards, leading to unbalanced matches.

gameplay
113 mentions
42 % positive mentions
54 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Stormbound is praised for its unique mechanics, engaging strategy, and appealing art style, offering a blend of card-based and chess-like elements. However, many players criticize the game for its heavily pay-to-win model, which hampers progression and balance, making it difficult for free-to-play users to compete effectively. While the core mechanics are enjoyable and well-executed, the monetization strategy detracts significantly from the overall experience.
- “Stormbound has a unique art style and interesting mechanics that keep you engaged and motivate you to build your own decks.”
- “The gameplay is great until someone has a level 2 or level 3 card; do not play this game if you want fairness.”
- “Deck building is really fun, and the gameplay is pretty dynamic, in that you always find a new strategy to win.”
- “But at the higher levels of gameplay, you'll eventually hit a power tier wall where your opponent simply has better cards because they invested lots of money, so they have very powerful faction heroes as well as vastly upgraded basic cards that you cannot keep up with or out-strategize the opponent unless you pay for the microtransactions.”
- “Furthermore, the game's progression system is painfully slow and heavily skewed towards pay-to-win mechanics.”
- “Fun at first, but inevitably after an hour or two of gameplay, you begin to realize this game's another cash grab pay-to-win machine designed to initially deceive you into playing for long enough before realizing the true pay-to-win nature that you'll be more unquestioningly motivated to purchase premium currency.”
graphics
65 mentions
71 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The graphics of Stormbound receive mixed reviews, with many praising its unique and charming art style, smooth animations, and overall aesthetic appeal. However, some players find the visuals to be simplistic or uninspired, overshadowed by frustrations with the game's pay-to-win mechanics. Overall, while the artwork and design are often highlighted as standout features, the balance of gameplay and monetization practices detracts from the overall experience for some users.
- “Stormbound has a unique art style and interesting mechanics that keep you engaged and motivate you to build your own decks.”
- “The graphics are beautifully designed and animations are smooth.”
- “The game looks great, having a basic but definite charm to its graphics, and the card designs and effects are varied enough to keep things interesting.”
- “Visually, 'Stormbound' is uninspired, with bland graphics and generic art design that fails to capture the imagination.”
- “This is a cleverly designed grid-based card game with effective, albeit simple, graphics that is utterly and completely ruined by greed-based publishing.”
- “There's just something about the overall style of the graphics and the turn-based card combat that simply makes you forget how utterly bad this game is from a fundamental standpoint.”
story
53 mentions
8 % positive mentions
87 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is criticized for its lack of depth and variety, with players expressing a desire for a more engaging narrative and diverse card options. While there are daily missions and quests that provide some rewards, many feel that the grind for cards and progression is tedious, especially for free-to-play users, and that the campaign mode lacks a compelling storyline despite an interesting setting. Overall, players appreciate the potential of the game's world but are disappointed by the limited storytelling and repetitive quest mechanics.
- “- great backstory and setting”
- “This one makes you wish that campaign mode had an actual story or something; it's an interesting world with interesting characters, and I hope they give more info about the lore in Stormbound.”
- “But if you're going to be spending money on a game, why not play a card game that actually has a story, a plot, and diverse modes of play.”
- “Another aspect of the game that is quite tedious is the daily quest system.”
- “The player can't even get more coins to buy cards in the shop, because the quests are almost always 'win using...' and they can't win because of people who have bought things in-game, so they can't actually level up their cards (which means they can't win).”
monetization
31 mentions
10 % positive mentions
55 % neutral mentions
35 % negative mentions
The monetization model of the game has been widely criticized for its aggressive pay-to-win mechanics, where players who invest money gain significant advantages with powerful cards, creating an imbalance in competitive play. While some users appreciate the ability to earn rewards through ads and grinding, many feel that the heavy reliance on microtransactions detracts from the overall experience, making it feel like a cash grab rather than a fair gaming environment. Despite its enjoyable gameplay and aesthetics, the intrusive monetization strategy has left a sour impression on many players.
- “I like almost everything about it besides this, but the monetization is integrated so heavily into the core experience that it is severely detrimental to my ability to enjoy the game.”
- “Actually, I've been playing for like a month on the mobile version, really like this game; it doesn't force you to buy the in-game purchases, you can actually grind the cards just from quests, and the gold given is pretty generous.”
- “But at the higher levels of gameplay, you'll eventually hit a power tier wall where your opponent simply has better cards because they invested lots of money, so they have very powerful faction heroes as well as vastly upgraded basic cards that you cannot keep up with or out-strategize the opponent unless you pay for the microtransactions.”
- “It seems designed to coerce players into spending real money on in-game purchases rather than rewarding skill and dedication.”
- “This blatant cash grab mentality sours the experience and alienates those who aren't willing to empty their wallets for a chance at enjoyment.”
grinding
30 mentions
10 % positive mentions
-7 % neutral mentions
97 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is a significant point of contention among players, with many noting that while it can be tedious and time-consuming, it also offers a sense of reward and fun when progressing through card upgrades and deck building. Some players feel that the grind is necessary to remain competitive, especially for free-to-play users, while others argue that it leans towards a pay-to-win model due to the extensive time required to unlock cards and upgrades. Overall, the experience of grinding varies, with some finding it enjoyable and others viewing it as a barrier to fully enjoying the game.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Grinding in this game is incredibly rewarding and keeps you engaged.”
- “The grind is satisfying and offers a real sense of progression.”
- “I regret every single moment spent grinding whole decks to 5 tiers of upgrades to still be treated like a second-class user.”
- “Unlocking new cards is impossible, so an intense amount of grinding is required.”
- “After you reach level 3 with the cards you like, the game becomes little more than long hours of grinding to progress even slightly.”
music
19 mentions
37 % positive mentions
47 % neutral mentions
16 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its charm and pleasantness, while others find it repetitive and lacking in variety. Some highlight the soundtrack as beautiful and fitting for the game's atmosphere, though a few note that it can feel uninspired or cheap at times. Overall, the music contributes positively to the gameplay experience, enhancing the enjoyment of the tactical card game.
- “The game's art style and music are quite good, and combined with the chessboard-style auto-battle round system and numerous cards, players who decide to play the game long-term can explore endless possibilities.”
- “Beautiful soundtrack and gorgeous minimalistic graphics, simple but interesting mechanics, quick matches that require skill and free-to-play friendly rewards, which is everything I look for in card games.”
- “It is honestly an ingenious gameplay, really well refined and the musical score is really pleasant to listen to even after long play sessions.”
- “Coupled with repetitive sound effects and a lackluster soundtrack, the overall presentation feels cheap and uninspired.”
- “- the victory music is sad and not very victorious in theme.”
- “The soundtrack, even though there's like... what, the main-menu track and battle track?”
stability
6 mentions
33 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
67 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while some users report smooth performance, especially on Linux, many others experience significant bugs that affect gameplay, such as losing matches due to glitches and issues with game mechanics. Despite these problems, some players appreciate the cross-device functionality and the developers' efforts to improve stability.
- “Runs great on Linux too.”
- “I've been trying to break this game for ages (you know, having my phone and computer open at once while opening books and battling) and there are no glitches, cheats, or anything. Great job putting this on computer! I love when you open a book; it opens on both devices.”
- “Still a lot buggy; I have lost like 10 matches due to bugs.”
- “We still have some glitches, such as when a building at 0 health does not fall over and when you discard a card but don't get a card back until you restart the whole game.”
- “Good game, but buggy as hell.”
optimization
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its smooth performance and excellent optimization on both mobile and computer platforms, allowing for uncapped frame rates. However, players note that the pay-to-win card upgrade mechanics detract from the overall experience.
- “Game runs smoothly, very well optimized. You can set the frame rate to uncapped, and the mechanics are fun.”
- “I first played this game on mobile, and it's great; it runs smoothly.”
- “Love the computer version just as much as on mobile; it looks great and runs smoothly.”
humor
2 mentions
150 % positive mentions
-50 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is noted as enjoyable, particularly in the context of absurd matchups and deck imbalances, which can lead to hilarious situations. However, this humor is overshadowed by frustrations related to microtransactions and the repetitive cycle of needing better cards to win, which detracts from the overall experience.
- “It's a funny game until you reach the loop: 'You need more cards to win, you need to win for new cards.'”
- “The game has a decent concept hidden under many issues, but the hilarious deck and player level imbalances create some truly funny moments.”
- “The absurdity of the random matches and the inept decks in the later ranks leads to some genuinely hilarious gameplay experiences.”
atmosphere
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive ambient sounds and effective sound design, which significantly enhance the overall experience, despite some simplicity in card effects.
- “The ambient atmosphere and sounds make it amazing.”
- “The sound design is impressive; card effects are simple, but the atmospheric sound is great.”
replayability
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
-150 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
Players note that the game offers significant replayability, particularly if quests were adjusted to reward cards instead of coins, which could enhance the incentive to replay them.
- “This game offers a lot of replayability.”
- “Re-doing the quests to reward cards instead of coins would greatly enhance the replayability.”
- “Re-do the quest so that they reward cards rather than coins; that would significantly increase replayability.”
- “The game lacks meaningful content to encourage replayability.”
- “Once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to play again.”
character development
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Reviewers highlight that the character design and card art significantly enhance the game's immersive experience, likening it to the dynamic nature of wizard chess. This artistic approach contributes to a vibrant and engaging portrayal of character development.
- “The character design and card art make the game come to life, kind of like wizard chess.”
- “The depth of character development allows players to form genuine connections with the characters, making every decision feel impactful.”
- “Each character evolves throughout the game, providing a rich narrative experience that keeps players engaged.”