# Bardcard — user reviews > 24 indexed App Store user reviews of Bardcard by Kevin Mikles, rated 4.70/5 from 55 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bardcard/id1382517817/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bardcard/id1382517817.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 48 · 4★ 3 · 3★ 1 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 1 ## Newest reviews (10 of 24) ### 5/5 — Superb and Addicting *2024-06-25* This game quickly became one of my faves. Hits all the right retro vibes with a familiar format with lots of modern mechanics. Looking forward to Chapter 2! ### 5/5 — Unique and immersive *2023-05-21* Addictive, too. I can’t stop playing it. Don’t let the apparent simplicity of the matching mechanics fool you. There’s a fair amount of strategy across the entire “map”. The story is richly imagined and well-written. It deserves more players! ### 5/5 — Nostalgic, casual, just right *2022-12-16* The first game I played was Nethack on DOS before Windows was a thing and Bardcard really charmed me. At first I thought this game was too difficult (kept dying) but after keeping at it on and off I started to get into it heaps more. Realising you get to keep some items boosted enjoyment greatly. The gameplay is casual and easy which is nice on the brain but there’s increasing challenge of monsters and random chance/luck that make starting all over again still enjoyable if you are someone who likes feeling determined to do better than last time. It took me a while to figure out how to interpret the Map and cursed items but figuring them out felt rewarding.. just like old school games where you had to figure it out by yourself. Can’t wait for the next instalment! ### 5/5 — Update fixed issues, great game! *2022-11-28* I really appreciate that the developer revamped the game so that progress is much better. I redownloaded it to start over and I can tell already it’s been greatly improved. Thank you, developer, for listening to feedback and addressing issues, it’s really appreciated. This game is monetized right with no ads or IAP. The design is awesome and the gameplay is unique and fun, the right balance of luck and strategy. There’s a lot to do but it’s not overly complicated, making it good for casual and advanced gamers alike. I like that it saves progress at all times too so you can jump in and out quickly on a break. You’ve done everything right, developer, and I highly recommend this game to others. **Developer response:** Thanks for trying out the latest update! We really appreciate you giving us a second chance and we're glad the the revamp has made the game more enjoyable. If you have any more ideas for improvements or fun directions we could take, hit us up anytime via email (hello@rascalmagic.com) or any of our social media accounts. We love hearing feedback and figuring out how to best apply it to Bardcard. ### 5/5 — Awesome Game! *2022-11-16* Reminds me of a lot of other role playing rogue likes I’ve enjoyed playing but with its own unique story. Lots of secrets and replay ability in the first chapter. Looking very forward to seeing where this games goes and hope updates come soon :) ### 5/5 — Best game of 2022 *2022-09-28, version 2.11* Really enjoying it so far and the developer is making regular updates. ### 5/5 — REALLY GOOD *2022-09-21, version 2.10* Great game, excited to see how they build on this in future updates 👍 ### 5/5 — Great game! *2022-09-05* Really enjoy it’s simple and easy to use design, and the roguelike aspects are my favorite to play through time and time again. ### 5/5 — Clever quest-driven roguelike *2022-08-26* When you first pick up this game, you’ll think it’s some weird Memory game with some combat thrown in. It’s not. It’s a thematic, decision-heavy hardscrabble. The game organically presents objectives that, on completion, yield information, equipment, key items, or changes in the dungeon. These persist into subsequent runs. Coming up with an executing a plan to pursue these objectives represents the core gameplay loop. The matching system induces a risk-reward dynamic, creating variance in the cost of fully exploring a room or taking side paths. It also creates this neat dynamic where if you’re hurrying to find the exit, you might stumble on something interesting that prompts you to stick around. You’d think the card-based rooms would be same-y, but there’s a narrative frame for different parts of the map, and the NPCs, environmental hazards, monsters, and items participate in that frame in unexpectedly immersive ways. The comprehensive journal and map are a very thoughtful addition to the game. I’m looking forward to the release of the next chapter. ### 5/5 — This game rules *2022-08-23* Definitely worth the two dollars! Super fun card matching rpg. Super addictive!! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — boring brainless matching *2024-10-09* title says it all, apple won’t refund, this game is utter garbage. DONT BUY THIS GAME ### 2/5 — Flawed, has moments *2022-11-25* The memory mechanic is far too random and there aren’t enough resources… mostly you’ll randomly die from no energy while randomly clicking squares to find a match. Add more food; add some sort of memory buff so you can reveal cards more quickly. **Developer response:** Hey there! Thanks for the review. I'd love to hear more about your experience with the memory mechanic. What aspect of it is too random? Sorry that starvation has been haunting you -- that doesn't sound like fun and we'd love to make this experience better. There are a few situations that assist card matching such as the "notice" mechanic and items that reveal unmatched cards, but perhaps these are too few and far between and/or not as helpful as they could be. We could add more food to the mix but I feel like there may be better ways to address this issue. We'd love to chat! Reach out to us either via email (hello@rascalmagic.com), or social media (Reddit, Twitter, IG). I'd love to ask you a few questions about your experience and discover ways to make Bardcard more fun. ### 2/5 — Another luck based game *2022-11-12* There is absolutely no skill associated with this game. The mechanics are luck based which is incredibly frustrating to play. **Developer response:** Heya! Our aim is provide a good balance between luck and strategy, but it sounds like we may have missed the mark. We'd love to hear about your experience: What aspects of Bardcard you find the most frustrating, and how these aspects could be improved. Reach out to us at hello@rascalmagic.com or hit us up on social media (Reddit, Twitter, IG). We value your feedback! ### 4/5 — Almost there, has potential *2022-08-23* A fun concept, runs well! Though the match mechanic needs to have a more engaging risk/reward factor (as someone said on TouchArcade). Maybe a limited flip option or other impacts that force the player to be more careful about what they select? Otherwise, if you have to uncover everything anyway, what is the purpose? ### 5/5 — completely immersive and addictive *2026-04-08, version 2.33* BardCard is a beautiful game in which I have spent many hours trying to master. I have nothing but positive feedback to give. I would really recommend this game especially for visually impaired players such as myself since the entire game is accessible via voice-over. I am really looking forward to the next chapter. ### 5/5 — Card-matching based RPG *2025-12-21* This game is an RPG - the kind where you equip items to yourself and such, and battle enemies in turn-based encounters. However, it's not 2D or 3D world traversal like a pokémon or zelda game, nor is it strictly text-based traversal like old retro RPG games from the late 70's and early 80's. You traverse by flipping and matching cards or tiles. Some of the cards have actions that may trigger a text-based interaction with an NPC character, other pairs might trigger a text-based battle, others will be for collecting pickup items, etc. The game has a menu for equipping items that you have already collected. It comes with a well done retro aesthetic that complements the gameplay. ### 5/5 — Most interested I’ve been in a game! *2025-04-09* I don’t often find games, let alone mobile games, that get me legitimately interested in the lore, development, and make me want to 100% it. But here we are! So far this has been a sick game and it deserves more popularity ### 5/5 — Lots of fun- part 2 coming? *2025-02-15* I definitely had fun with this. The memory mechanic kept it challenging and I liked all of the secrets to unlock. Will there be a part 2? ### 5/5 — Very good *2024-12-31, version 2.29* I like the dungeons, the MPC's the the game... Pretty much everything about it. Thank you so much to the developer for making such a game accessible. ### 5/5 — Awesome (but bug report) *2024-12-23* Didn’t expect to enjoy this but it’s fun, I like the elements that you retain across play throughs, and it’s really well written…plus it helps exercise my aging memory. One more: was just fighting a whelk, had almost zero health, it poisoned me just as my weapon broke completely. I tapped my hand to see if I could equip something mid combat, and it said basically I could only do that outside of combat. The background flashed for a sec (s as I assume I died) but then the button to return from the equipment note wouldn’t work…and the only way to get out of that screen was to force quit completely. Fortunately it loaded back up just fine (with the immediate note that I’d died as expected) so no big problem… just a single bug in what otherwise an extremely clean game! :) **Developer response:** Thanks for the detailed bug report! I really appreciate feedback as it helps us make Bardcard better. We will investigate the issue and aim to fix it in the next release. If you uncover any more bugs, reach out to us at hello@rascalmagic.com. Or you can join our Discord server for more interactive discussions. Thanks for playing! ## Most praised reviews (4 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Truly amazing hidden gem. *2024-12-16* As a voiceover user, I’ve often found it a bit difficult to find good RPG‘s to play. This one seemed to come out of nowhere, and it absolutely blew me away. The exploration mechanics are super creative, it runs sort of like a memory card game, but every time you match two cards, it triggers some kind of event. combat is turn based and requires no vision or reflexes whatsoever, just strategy and a bit of luck. I like that the overall gameplay has a sort of survival theme. Not only do you have to keep your health up, but you also have to keep your energy up otherwise you will start losing health, and if you’re over burdened, you start losing energy. The fact that I have to constantly keep all of this in mind, while always trying to ration enough food to get me just one floor further, really immerses me in the game world, making me feel as though I’m truly braving the depths of a vast and mysterious underground land. Another really cool mechanic I love about this game is every time you kill a monster, you learn a bit more about it. It’s like you’re studying the Monsters in real time. As for story, I find the storyline of this game incredibly intriguing. I never know what’s around the next corner, or what secret zone I have yet to discover. I feel like there’s always new surprises here, even on floors I’ve visited 1000 times. overall, I would say that I love this new addition to the ever growing collection of voiceover accessible rpgs on iOS, as it is engaging, challenging, completely accessible, and hits you with interesting surprises at every turn. ### 5/5 — I really like the game *2024-12-14, version 2.29* Just one small problem developers if you are reading this review, can you please add more save slots? I would really appreciate that. ### 5/5 — Fun and addictive *2024-09-28* My favorite game on my iPad in a long time - the only thing is I think the brother is impossible and I admit I’m getting a little tired of trying to make it there and then just get annihilated. I don’t know if it’s because of a skill issue (me!) or what… anyways I love playing, I just hope I can progress finally one day. Super awesome game though! **Developer response:** Glad you're enjoying Bardcard! Apologies that the brother is giving you a frustrating time. Our intention was to make the battle a challenge but not impossible; it sounds like we can do a better job preparing players for this challenge. I'd love to hear about your experience if you are down to share it! Please reach out to us so I can learn more and help you through it. You can find our contact information in the "About" screen accessed via the main menu. Discord and email work best, but we check all of them periodically. With your feedback we can make the game better. Thanks for playing! ### 5/5 — How a game should feel *2024-06-25* The best parts of RPGs with the tedium simplified Awesome pixel art A retro nod back to the arcade days of my childhood in the 80s Total feeling of immersion which most games are missing I love it!! --- *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 2026-08-29.*