# Card of Darkness — An Epic Card Adventure

> Strategic card game adventure with roguelike elements and hand-animated art. (iPhone/iPad app by Zach Gage.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/card-of-darkness/id1364257627 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Zach Gage](https://appshunter.io/developer/294263418)
- Category: Games, Adventure
- Price: Free
- Rating: 3.90/5 from 1,009 App Store ratings · 557 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 9+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 1.2 GB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2019-09-19
- Data updated: 2026-09-02
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/card-of-darkness/id1364257627/reviews.md

## What is Card of Darkness?

Embark on an epic hand-animated adventure from Zach Gage, Pendleton Ward, and Choice Provisions.

Cast powerful spells, slay fantastic monsters, discover ancient secrets, and ultimately save the world — just by picking up the right cards.

Card of Darkness is a full-featured adventure designed around an accessible, minimalist, card game core.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

The journey has been long, but finally you're here in the heart of Glinhorn Forest at the edge of darkness. The people asked for a hero and they got you. Good thing you're a hero.

Many stacks of cards lie before you filled with monsters, treasures, weapons, potions, and spells.

You can only see the top card of each stack — what lies beneath is a mystery.

Sometimes the cards you see are fearful monsters, fantastic treasures, or weapons you really really need, and you can take any of them... but there's a catch! You must finish what you start.

If you take a card from a stack, you must eventually take all cards under it... and you won't know what dangers (or treasures!) lie beneath the surface until it's too late.

Every level in Card of Darkness is a slow reveal of a compelling and ever-changing puzzle, filled to the brim with risk/reward decisions.

But thats no problem for you — hero.


------JUST GIVE ME THE NUMBERS

- Journey through 8 environments in your quest to recover the Card of Darkness
- Defeat 5 ancient and terrifying bosses
- Find and equip 64 cards from the Deck of Darkness
- Discover over 150 unique monsters, weapons, treasures, potions, and spells
- Compete and rank up daily in the Chaos Realm
- Beat a Sunday dungeon in the Chaos Realm to access the secret Prestige Chaos Dungeon!


------A WORD FROM THE DEVELOPER

Over the past decade I've established a practice of making deep, compelling, and accessible games for people who don't have the time or space in their lives to learn every intricate detail of every videogame.

I strive to take the best of modern game design and package it clearly and accessibly so people can enjoy new kinds of games they might otherwise not be interested in.

For years I've wanted to tackle roguelikes, a game genre where you battle through randomly generated worlds of monsters and challenges. It is one of the most complicated, inaccessible, — and incredibly fantastic — game genres out there.

Card of Darkness is my attempt to take some of my favorite moments from roguelike games, and distill them into a simple but deep card game.

It's the streamlined design you'd expect from me, but this time layered with tons of stuff, just so much stuff! Well over a hundred unique monsters, spells, and upgrades. And art! Oh my goodness — the art! Beautiful incredible hand animated art from Pendleton Ward, Nelson Boles, Andrew Onorato and Evan Borja. Plus an incredible soundtrack from Stemage.

I honestly can't believe I got to make this videogame with all these amazing people. This certainly wasn’t possible without the support and hard work of everyone at Choice Provisions. We all poured our hearts into this and we hope you love it. 

I'm so happy to be able to present it to you — Card of Darkness, an epic adventure for everyone.

-zach

## Key features

- Hand-animated adventure
- Card game core
- Risk/reward decisions
- Journey through 8 environments
- Defeat 5 bosses
- Collect 64 cards
- Discover over 150 unique items

## What do users think of Card of Darkness?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🚀 Addictive gameplay
- 👍 Charming art style and music
- 💡 Unique card-based strategy
- 🚀 Quick restarts

**Cons**

- 🐛 Buggy and glitchy
- 🔀 Heavily reliant on RNG
- 🤯 Steep difficulty curve
- 🤔 Unclear mechanics

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Game freezes and crashes
- Slingshot and other mechanics not working as intended
- Saved progress being lost
- Dynamic Island issues

**Most requested features**

- More levels and content
- Customizable character
- Endless mode
- Improved tutorial and explanations

## Recent user reviews (10 of 557)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/card-of-darkness/id1364257627/reviews.md

### 1/5 — All progress gone

*2026-08-27, version 1.1.5*

I was in the 30s, first try in the second? Major boss. Opened the app, everything is gone. Back to the tutorial and all progress gone. Ouch.

### 5/5 — I just want more!

*2026-08-20, version 1.1.5*

I love love love this game! The gameplay is addicting and the daily challenges offer a nice bit of extra depth for long term players, I almost just wish there was more! Also I completed the game without equipping a single card of darkness my second time around so I’d say once you get a feel for this game nothing is particularly impossible or unfair. I keep saying this but I just want more! There’s not much to do once you’re done. There’s no infinite mode or anything, just the daily challenge, which gets a bit boring when you want to play play play haha. Can’t wait to see what else this team makes!

### 1/5 — Terrible

*2026-08-07, version 1.1.5*

Don’t download this

### 4/5 — 적당히 재밌고 귀여운 게임

*2026-07-01*

전략보다는 운이 중요한
게임인 것이 아쉽지만
적 유닛 컨셉과 귀여운
일러스트 때문에 계속
하게 되네요. 
그거 아니면 딱히 메리트
있는 게임은 아닌듯?

### 5/5 — 잘 만든 게임

*2026-06-28*

난이도가 꽤나 있는게임
요일던전 올클리어 다 하고나면 나오는 프레스티지(?) 던전까지 너무 어렵..

### 3/5 — Meh

*2026-06-24, version 1.1.5*

Has some fun mechanics but is almost illogically difficult at times, simply based on how the cards are assorted. It requires you to keep plugging away at levels until you get lucky and the cards let you through. That kind of takes the wind out of any strategy. The tokens that let you buy weapons or potions are largely worthless, I always end up with something worth 2 or 3 points, which rarely make a difference.

### 2/5 — Buggy

*2026-06-22, version 1.1.5*

I wanted so much to love this game.  It's fun, love the graphics, play can be really challenging, but the end comes too soon--it took me a mere 53 levels to reach the end, which in light of the worst flaw is a miracle.  Because the game randomly freezes up.  I've played it for a few years, and the freeze is recurrent.  I delete it, reload, and it reloads still frozen!  I start over with a new game, and the same thing eventually happens again.  Nope.  Unforgivable.  I'm out.  This time, for good.

### 5/5 — Simply wow

*2026-06-14, version 1.1.5*

Extremely Easy to underestimate this game. It doesn't look impressive at first, but as soon as the fast and quick tutorial (less than a minute) is done, the fun and puzzle solving enjoyment kicks in. 

Pro:
-Little to no story (But if you look around there is some context...)
-No useless and tenuous tutorial
-Fast and quick gameplay, 1 mins is enough to try a level
-Mind game, some random is there, but puzzle solving has a bigger impact.
-Easy to learn, but very difficult early on (A big big plus these days, no time wasted).

Cons:
-Maybe... but only maybe a greater scheme like a house building with loot gathered

I wish i had tried it earlier, a wonderfull game, continue your excellent work!

### 3/5 — Issues

*2026-06-05, version 1.1.5*

Fun but VERY buggy.

### 2/5 — Beaucoup trop aléatoire

*2026-06-03*

Je ne peux pas mettre plus que 2 à ça. Le jeu est bien sur le principe, et je me suis bien amusé pendant les premières heures, mais c’est le genre de jeu dans lequel, si le jeu n’a pas décidé que vous alliez gagner, c’est perdu d’avance. Y’a beaucoup, beaucoup de trop de RNG ça en devient frustrant

## Frequently asked questions about Card of Darkness

### What is Card of Darkness?

Card of Darkness is a full-featured adventure game built around an accessible, minimalist card game core. Players embark on a hand-animated journey, casting spells and battling monsters by strategically picking cards from various stacks. Each level offers a unique puzzle with risk/reward decisions.

### What are the key features of Card of Darkness?

Key features include a hand-animated adventure, a minimalist card game core, risk/reward decisions in each level, a journey through 8 environments, the ability to defeat 5 bosses, collect 64 cards from the Deck of Darkness, and discover over 150 unique monsters, weapons, potions, and spells.

### How much does Card of Darkness cost?

Based on the provided information, Card of Darkness is a paid application. There is no mention of free-to-play elements, subscriptions, or in-app purchases, indicating a one-time purchase model.

### What kind of gameplay can I expect?

You can expect a strategic card game experience with roguelike elements. The core gameplay involves picking cards from stacks, but taking a card means you must eventually take all cards beneath it, creating a layer of risk and mystery. The game focuses on making compelling choices with significant consequences.

### What platforms is Card of Darkness available on?

The provided description does not specify the exact platforms for Card of Darkness. However, it is presented as a mobile application, suggesting availability on iOS and/or Android devices.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.1.5 — 2022-10-07

Various bugfixes.

### 1.1.4 — 2022-09-08

Bug fixes.

### 1.1.3 — 2021-12-10

Bug fixes.

### 1.1.2 — 2021-10-04

Bug fixes.

### 1.1.1 — 2021-09-01

Card of Darkness 1.1 is our second major update.
 
 In addition to many bug fixes, this update brings some major changes to the Chaos Realm, including a new prestige system available to any players who have conquered the Sunday dungeon. 
 
 Buying the prestige item will reset your Chaos Realm progress in exchange for access to an additional globally-shared daily dungeon that you can modify each day with a selection of Cards of Darkness that change weekly. Can you equip the right bonus card each day to make the most gold and climb the leaderboards?
 
 Additionally, this update brings a ton of new cards to the Chaos Realm, which we'll roll out over the next 12 months:
 
 23 new monsters
 4 new status effects
 9 new weapons
 2 new potions
 2 new treasures
 12 new spells
 and 12 new cards of darkness
 
 We hope you enjoy it!

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## More apps by Zach Gage

- [Pocket Run Pool](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pocket-run-pool/id949982914)
- [Sage Solitaire](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sage-solitaire/id1004646445)
- [Typeshift](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/typeshift/id1084762137)
- [Really Bad Chess](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/really-bad-chess/id1109751921)
- [SpellTower Français](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spelltower-francais/id1160360982)
- [SpellTower Nederlands](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spelltower-nederlands/id1160360990)

All apps by Zach Gage: https://appshunter.io/developer/294263418

## Related topics

[kemotaku roguelike card puzzle](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kemotaku-roguelike-card-puzzle) · [little orpheus](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/little-orpheus)

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*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 2026-09-02.*
