# Avadon: The Black Fortress HD — user reviews > 154 indexed App Store user reviews of Avadon by Spiderweb Software, rated 4.70/5 from 40 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/avadon-the-black-fortress-hd/id429761869/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/avadon-the-black-fortress-hd/id429761869.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 36 · 4★ 0 · 3★ 2 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 2 ## What do users think of Avadon? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Smooth gameplay - 📚 Engaging story and characters - 🕹️ Challenging and strategic combat - 🕰️ Lots of gameplay hours - 🎨 Good graphics for an old-school RPG - 💰 Good value for the price **Cons** - 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs - 🔍 Difficulty targeting enemies in combat - 🧭 Confusing map and navigation - 🔇 Lack of voice acting - 🔋 Performance issues on older iPads **Commonly reported bugs** - Dialogue script broken in certain areas - Enemies not dropping loot as expected - Crashes when entering certain areas **Most requested features** - Ability to change screen orientation - More character customization options - Improved inventory management ## Newest reviews (15 of 154) ### 3/5 — Not feeling it *2021-07-29, version 1.2.1* I’ve played a few Spiderweb games before, most recently Queen’s Wish. Picked up Avadon based on reviews that it captured some of the feel of early Ultima games. But I thought it was pretty meh. The game was just a series of tasks, mostly of the “go and find XYZ, kill it/him/her if necessary”. Or “your companion has left. Find them, and in the process find their enemy, kill it/him/her if necessary”. And killing it/him/her is usually necessary. Report back and get your next quest. But the combat was pretty repetitive and the nature of it values two things above all else: dexterity and haste skills. The skill trees are such that by the time you get those top skills you’re really working toward (like my shaman summoning a drake!) the game is almost over. Otherwise: combats tend to either be easy, or brutally hard (mostly easy though). I just found this game mostly forgettable, and the outdated and tiny graphics didn’t do much to spruce it up. ### 3/5 — Why are the rooms so big?? *2021-03-02, version 1.2.1* Not only does it look silly, but it makes for very low npc density and do exploring a single building will make your arms feel like you went to the gym from the amount of touching the screen needed to move around. I could see this being annoying on pc too. Remember when your part in Baldur’s gate is very powerful but you want to explore some areas with weaker enemies and you’re just lawn mowing the map? That’s every building here. ### 4/5 — Great game! *2017-08-01, version v1.1* I loved this game, although *spoilers* the end is really impossible. Also looked up other sites and is a strongly supported opinion. The only people that seemed to "win" had to cheat. But alternative endings are available. Would still recommend playing. I will be buying number 2 and 3. The best parts are characters fully customizable, choose your own path, and a ton of work into story. More quests and options than main story. ### 5/5 — Another awesome spiderweb title! *2016-11-23, version v1.1* I'm about 15 hours into this game and I'm starting to sincerely love this game. ### 5/5 — One of the BEST RPG on App store *2015-10-08, version 1.0.4* Search Genre RPG and you get nothing that comes close to an actual RPG. Until Avadon. Hours of gameplay, lots to do. Well worth the money. I'm surpised its not higher up the ranking charts. Wish they did it for Iphone ### 3/5 — Beware corrupted save bugs *2014-07-04, version 1.0.4* I like this game, but be warned the game has bugs that corrupt and ruin save files, including one (listed as "rare" in spiderweb forums) that eliminates all loot from chests. Yes. Treat your saves with care! ### 5/5 — Happy now *2014-04-20, version 1.0.4* Initially I was rather disappointed with this game because of the huge lag Issues I was experiencing particularly when in battle mode. Fortunately now that I have the latest firmware the game runs fine. So now it's a five star game IMO. ### 2/5 — Disappointed *2014-04-17, version 1.0.4* Update deleted all my save files ### 4/5 — Great old school RPG *2014-02-14, version 1.0.4* Great game! No in app purchases, what you pay is all you pay, and it's absolutely worth it! If the devs can keep this quality up, I will happily keep putting my money where my mouth is. ### 5/5 — Wonderful story driven RPG *2014-02-11, version 1.0.4* This game works great on my iPad 4. Controls are easy to use, unlike the Baldur's Gate iOS ports. This is a wonderful turn based RPG, with a complex story, setting, characters, and moral choices. You do need to get past the very simple graphics and audio compared to many modern games, but I actually found that enhances my ability to fill in the mental picture myself as the game goes along. Well worth the price. ### 5/5 — A few performance issues, but a great game *2014-01-14, version 1.0.4* Great game, awesome plot, lots of treasure, I'm glad I own an iPad so I can play it! You can change the orientation in the settings, if you want to play with the home button to the right. That being said, it does stutter a bit on my iPad mini, even with all other apps fully closed. Especially noticeable in combat. Also now that I use the inverted display setting, the touch accuracy gets wonky. Makes everything harder when the game thinks you tapped somewhere you didn't. Force closing the app and relaunching it fixes it temporarily. ### 5/5 — Can hardly wait for sequels *2014-01-04, version 1.0.4* As the subject line suggests, sequels are a must. Hopefully the outcome of the story can be more driven by decisions made in game than this one but still a five star game. ### 2/5 — Crashes iOS 7 and orientation *2014-01-04, version 1.0.4* Good gameplay, if it's a little bit difficult at times to select players. Lags quite a bit, but worse still, game crashes iOS 7 on iPad 2. Only a hard restart will do. Also, game plays in landscape orientation, but only *one* way. In my ZAGG Portfolio case, I have to turn the entire case upside down to play. Annoying. Please fix. ### 3/5 — Not as fun as Avernum:Escape From The Pit *2013-11-18, version 1.0.4* If Escape From The Pit is like 3rd edition D&D, this is like 4th edition. The scale is very strange. Everything is way too big. The humblest farmhouse is like Grand Central Station. The box text describes something you see "to the north", and you have to search across three screens before you actually see it. The box text describes you "squeezing through a narrow crack," and you see an opening four people could walk through side by side. You can actually sneak past some foes, but when you're not in combat mode they keep moving even when you don't. This makes following someone (which you have to do) frustrating, as they easily outpace your ability to swipe and tap the screen. Or, you sneak past the patrol you're not supposed to fight, check the map, then - oops! You're in combat now because they kept moving while you had the map up. (And you need the map a lot to get any sense of where you are because the spaces are so ridiculously enormous.) It's a weird arcade-like "feature" for a turn-based game. Clearly a lot of work went into the story, and there's an incredible amount of gameplay here for the money. And the ending explains why all the quests and companions were so illogical and annoying. But still, they were. ### 5/5 — Always awesome *2013-07-20, version 1.0.4* Been a fan of the studio since The Exile series and I love the fact that the games now are on the Ipad. Great game with a great storyline and turn based fighting mechanic. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — 😡Annoying *2023-11-25, version 1.2.2* I hate the need to use lock picks, which are difficult to acquire and just slow down and impede progress. Avernum’s use of a skill level for tools is a vast improvement. I also had difficulty keeping my party together. Often, after directing them to a nearby location, some would go the right location, and others would go where they weren’t supposed to. Game progress is too slow. ### 1/5 — Too much reading *2020-08-18, version 1.2.1* What a waste of money ### 1/5 — Disgruntleddonnie *2017-10-29, version v1.1* This game is plagued by a bug that opens up the inventory screen whenever I click on a door. This makes progress impossible. If I load an earlier save I can usually make some progress before it happens again. There is a good game here but it's basically unplayable because of the bugs. ### 1/5 — Freezes *2013-12-28, version 1.0.4* Great game. Too bad it's always freezing and it's to the point it's unplayable for me. Please fix ### 1/5 — Disappointing *2013-07-19, version 1.0.4* Not one for older iPads (ipad 2 in my case) - serious memory issues meaning it is unplayable even after knocking off all apps running in the background rebooting and switching off as much as possible I.e. music, grids for battles - would have been fun from what little I experienced but having to wait several minutes between attacks renders it unplayable. Given the price - if you have any doubts as to whether your device can handle this avoid to save disappointment. I wish I'd checked the developers website first as it seems to be a FAQ - seems their only answer is - newer iPads have more memory so sorry you guys with older ones! But then again - caveat emptor - lesson learned I guess! ### 1/5 — Huge performance problems *2013-06-22, version 1.0.4* This game is unplayable due to constant hanging and frequent crashes (on ipad 2). Checking the forums shows the problem is well reported. I am a big fan of spiderweb games and really enjoyed avernum EftP, so I hope the developers take the time to make this game presentable. I am happy to revoke this review in that case. ### 1/5 — Rubbish! *2013-03-28, version 1.0.4* Please do not buy this game if you are under 16. Does not accommodate players who have never experienced one of these games before!!!! ### 1/5 — Boring expensive game *2012-07-27, version v1.0.3* Since the reviews were so good, I decided to spend the 9.99 and give it a try. I am so disappointed. The gameplay is very poor. A lot of story and little action. Don't waste your money. ### 1/5 — Warning - No longer compatible with iOS 4.3 *2012-06-16, version v1.0.3* Please explain why you increased the higher iOS requirement for this minor update? ### 1/5 — Unplayable *2012-06-10, version v1.0.2* 10-second lag on every turn. Could be fantastic game, too. What a shame. I would like a refund, as well. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — End?!? *2020-06-28, version 1.2.1* I may not be proud of spending tens of hours on this game but I did because it’s really fun and awesome. though Redbeard is impossible to kill even with lvl 30 maxed out characters on hard ### 5/5 — A great classic-style rpg! *2020-06-19, version 1.2* I’m highly enjoying this so far. Looking forward to finishing it and moving on to this developer’s other titles. A true classic RPG experience. ### 5/5 — Wow! *2020-04-18, version v1.1* I’ve been looking for a good rpg game forever from the App Store and finally found it! The reviews were right- this game is awesome! Thank you and I’ll definitely be getting the rest of the series when I finish this one! ### 5/5 — Awesome game, different from Avernum *2019-06-17, version v1.1* Lots of depth in story and storytelling, and smooth combat mechanics. Another great retro rpg. ### 5/5 — Great Game *2018-03-07, version v1.1* It is a great game and takes hours to finish. Love the story line and the main characters that accompany Tristam. One recommendation to the developer team is to adjust Redbeard parameters in the game ending. The only way I could beat him with only 4 characters including Tristan was to use cheat code. Either change the ending to where based on the choice Tristam make is either he committed treason, and was sent to exile, or took a place with Redbeard or battle Redbeard for the keeper seat. But if the latter is chosen, then reduce the spawning of the sentinels, allows higher impact to Redbeard when he gets hit and take it down to 1 hours vs. 3 hours even when I used cheat codes. The ending made it very frustrating to the point where I am not buying Avadon 2 and 3 just so I don’t have to go through this type of frustration again. ### 5/5 — Awesomeness *2017-08-18, version v1.1* Jeff is a thug AND infatuated with guns. Spiderweb's games, and anything similar, should be front page recommendation worthy! Classic rpg goodness at it's goodness...est...iest...seriously! ### 5/5 — A true gem of a game. *2017-07-31, version v1.1* A real rpg. An excellent port from pc. In fact it's better to play on touch screen than kb/m. Worth every penny and then some. ### 5/5 — WOW *2017-04-23, version v1.1* Great game! ### 5/5 — Great Story and Mechanics *2017-02-16, version v1.1* I like the plot of this game quite a lot. Spiderweb did a great job of creating an intricate story while keeping people hooked for a sequel with a spectacular ending. Another thing I like is the difference in game mechanics; it gives players the power to develop their own strategy. Healing outside of combat is by far my favorite. Other things to note include the class-based skill trees which offer a variety of ways to play (and the character classes are significantly different to justify the use of classes in general). Items like food and blessing crystals can make a huge difference in this game, but pure stats and equipment tend to make a lesser difference. Finally, the ability cooldown system is pretty neat and helps balance the game in an interesting way. Last thing to note is the level cap: while 30 does seem low (and I'd still argue it should be like 5 to 10 levels higher), it is not all that bad as it seems -- by the time I finished the game, I was around level 25 to 26. (Note: I finished the game on Normal Difficulty with no cheats.) ### 5/5 — Awesome Retro Fantasy RPG!!! *2016-12-12, version v1.1* Spiderweb Software makes the best story driven RPG's that I ever played. If you like old school fantasy RPG's like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Avernum, and Dungeons of Chaos on iOS, then this game is for you! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-05.*