# HardBack

> Deck-building word game where players craft words to earn prestige. (iPhone/iPad app by Fowers Games Inc..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hardback/id1377791842 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Fowers Games Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1131388980)
- Category: Games, Board, Card
- Price: $4.99
- Rating: 3.80/5 from 39 App Store ratings · 41 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 9.0 · 281 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2018-08-03
- Data updated: 2026-08-28
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hardback/id1377791842/reviews.md

## What is HardBack?

Hardback is a deck-building word game, a prequel to Paperback. As an aspiring 19th-century novelist, you work to pen your next masterpiece, earning prestige along the way. Specialize your deck in certain genres to exploit card combinations, and press your luck to draw extra cards — but make sure you can still string a word together!

Players build a deck of letters with various powers and race to 60 fame points to win. 

Features:
1-5 player hotseat and online async
3 levels of computer opponents to challenge you.

Gameplay
No wilds in your deck - any card can be wild.
Push your luck for more cards with the Ink system.
Match genre colors to gain bonus abilities on your cards.
Fight over the coveted award cards.
Timeless Classic cards stay in play, until someone uses them.
New hardcore mode  - can't repeat a word!

## Key features

- Deck-building with letter cards
- Genre specialization for bonuses
- Push-your-luck card drawing
- Hotseat and online multiplayer
- AI opponents
- Hardcore mode with no word repeats

## Recent user reviews (10 of 41)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hardback/id1377791842/reviews.md

### 3/5 — App keeps crashing

*2024-07-20, version 1.22*

The game is great, but every so often, it just stops working for online games.

### 2/5 — Poor dictionary, annoying UI

*2024-06-22*

The dictionary is missing common words, which is a cardinal sin for game of this type. A number of cards involve choices (e.g. 1 coin or one VP), and the UI needs a cumbersome number of clicks to navigate this. Just give us a coin-VP slider and a ink-vs-remover slider!

### 5/5 — Hardback is great!

*2023-12-07*

Hardback faithfully represents the board game. I haven't played with any of the optional additional mechanics, but a few comments for the developers:

1. You can quit on your turn, and some times you'll get a different hand of cards. This seems like a remediable cheating angle

2. You *have* to quit fairly frequently, because the game will get into a state where it won't accept taps, which is annoying.

3. I'm not a huge fan of how easy it is to accidentally move letters in your word into your letters you're not using. This wouldn't be a big deal if you didn't need to drag things so much, but I'd prefer a swipe-down or something to single tap dismissing a letter

4. It would be really nice if the keyboard worked, so if I typed letters, they'd just move from my list of letters up to the word (and keyboard shortcuts for pressing your luck would be nice, too)

### 5/5 — Great game!

*2022-12-28*

This is one of my favorite deck-building games. German localization would be great!

### 2/5 — Multiplayer is broken

*2022-09-30*

The game itself is enjoyable but as others have said the online multiplayer is unusable since I cannot add new friends on the new server. The developer has not yet responded to my support requests. I’d hold off on any purchase until this is resolved.

### 2/5 — Fan of physical, OS version could use work

*2022-09-05*

Online issues still continued.  I am unsure to add new friends when my list is empty.  

I just lost all my friends and all my open games.  Same with other people I know. Something is broken as I can't add them back now. The UI feels clunky especially async online play. Dev should model this more after the old Carcassonne game where players can see the board even if it isn't their turn. You should have a bar along the bottom that displays players score and ink counts. All buttons should be more defined and identifiable. Would be great to be able to zoom and pan around the board to see details of cards. Play a sound with the notification so we get a buzz. Would love to see this game realize its full potential.

### 2/5 — Can’t log in or reset password

*2022-09-03*

This has been going on for weeks now. It won’t accept my password and when I try to reset, the “reset password” button doesn’t work. I was really enjoying this game until this point but it was primarily a long-distance game for me. There’s no point without online access to my play friends.

### 5/5 — Excellent, but………

*2022-08-13*

Great game!  Will certainly stretch your vocabulary to find the right word to get the extra 3 points you need to snatch victory in the last turn.  

A few suggestions that really really do need attention.
1.  For a word game to include spelling errors in the labels/game instructions is just plain shoddy workmanship.  Fix them!
2. Really need some form of statistics for keeping track of local scores - how many games played, won, lost, highest scores, champion words, etc at various levels.
3. Would vastly improve replay value if there was a leaderboard function.

Notwithstanding the above, excellent game and highly recommended!

### 5/5 — An incredible gem

*2022-06-04, version 1.01e*

This game is perfect and the app is perfect.

### 4/5 — Should be lower

*2021-06-30*

I really wanted to play this game with my wife and it looks like it could’ve been a really good game which is why I gave it four stars. Unfortunately I get an HTTP error when I try to connect to an online game. It looks like they don’t really support this anymore so I’m guessing I just got it for no reason. Too bad.

## Frequently asked questions about HardBack

### What is HardBack?

HardBack is a deck-building word game where players act as aspiring 19th-century novelists. You build a deck of letter cards, use them to form words, and earn prestige points to win. The game involves strategic deck specialization and a push-your-luck mechanic for drawing extra cards.

### How do you win HardBack?

The primary objective in HardBack is to be the first player to reach 60 fame points. You earn these points by forming words with your letter cards. Additionally, players can compete for coveted award cards and utilize genre bonuses to gain advantages.

### What are the key gameplay mechanics?

Key mechanics include building a deck of letter cards, each with potential powers, and using them to spell words. The 'Ink' system allows players to push their luck for more cards. Matching genre colors on cards grants bonus abilities, and 'Timeless Classic' cards remain in play until used.

### Can I play HardBack with others?

Yes, HardBack supports both 1-5 player hotseat (local multiplayer on the same device) and online asynchronous play. You can also challenge three levels of computer opponents if you prefer to play solo.

### Is HardBack free to play?

Based on the provided information, HardBack is a free application. There are no mentions of in-app purchases or advertisements, suggesting it is entirely free to download and play.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.22 — 2022-08-04

-Updates to online play
-Online play moved to a new server

### 1.01e — 2018-10-23

Minor bug fixes.

### 1.01d — 2018-08-15

More bug fixes.

### 1.01c — 2018-07-30

Added a word lookup button to the review page.
Added a Add Friend button to the end game screen.
Fixed a bug where when an AI's turn was before a players turn. It would result in the player being unable to take there turn.
Fixed more minor bugs.

### 1.01b — 2018-07-11

Fixed a bug where when opening the Timeless Classic view than closing it, than opening the score view to view another players deck, it would stop you from using your Timeless Classic cards ability's.

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## More apps by Fowers Games Inc.

- [Fugitive Notepad](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fugitive-notepad/id1135595567)
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- [Word Domination: Going Solo](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/word-domination-going-solo/id1256052881)
- [Sabotage: Villains](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sabotage-villains/id1478455579)

All apps by Fowers Games Inc.: https://appshunter.io/developer/1131388980

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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 2026-08-28.*