# Maracaibo Digital — user reviews > 66 indexed App Store user reviews of Maracaibo Digital by Spiralburst Studio, LLC, rated 3.50/5 from 51 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/maracaibo-digital/id1518834089/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/maracaibo-digital/id1518834089.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 23 · 4★ 8 · 3★ 2 · 2★ 7 · 1★ 11 ## What do users think of Maracaibo Digital? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 👍 Faithful board game adaptation - 👍 Good tutorial - 👍 Thematic music - 👍 Smooth gameplay (when not buggy) - 👍 Helpful developers (on Discord) - 👍 Great for learning the game **Cons** - 🐛 Unplayable due to bugs - 🐛 Screen orientation issues - 🐛 Missing AI opponents - 🐛 Limited undo functionality - 🐛 Poorly managed screen real estate - 🐛 Inconsistent scaling on mobile - 🐛 No online multiplayer - 🐛 Automa plays differently than players **Commonly reported bugs** - App stuck in portrait/landscape orientation - Game freezes or locks up - Screen locked, half the game off-screen - Cannot scroll down to see the bottom of the board - Card drawing issues - Camera at the top of the screen during tutorial - Game hangs after first automa move - Display bugs on iPhone 14 Pro Max - Cannot redraw cards after planning - Game doesn't scale to screen consistently - Cannot access buttons on the right side of the screen - App doesn't work on iPad (portrait/landscape issue) **Most requested features** - Add computer AI opponents - Implement online multiplayer (real-time and asynchronous) - Add undo/restart turn functionality - Include a back button in the tutorial - Improve handling of larger system fonts - Add content from expansions and promos - Turn log feature - Full screen on iPhones - Option to hide notch/status bar ## Newest reviews (17 of 66) ### 3/5 — Needs computer AI *2024-12-21* While the automa offers a good solo challenge, AI challengers would change this to 4 or 5. **Developer response:** Thanks very much for the honest review! ### 3/5 — No CPU opponents, Automa only. *2024-08-24* For the most parts this is a really good - if very perfunctory- adaptation of the board game. No more, no less. There’s basically no animation beyond icons sliding around the screen, sound effects are very basic, and most people will mute the short music loop within the first 5 minutes. Worse than all of this however is a complete like of computer controlled opponents. The experience is like playing the board game solo, where the single opponent is controlled via a card draw in the exact same way as the tabletop. It can’t plan, it can’t anticipate. It just does its own random thing which may include rushing around the map within 3 turns doing very little, and playing entirely within its own unique rules. It’s a great replica of the (fantastic) board game, but it’s totally reasonable to expect a little more than that in the move to digital, and it fails to deliver on that. ### 2/5 — Does not have an AI *2024-08-11* So you can’t play a multiplayer game. This is a replacement of the physical board game; if you want to play with two players or more, then you need other humans to play with you ### 2/5 — Wird sehr schnell langweilig *2024-08-08* Ohne KI Bots oder Online Multiplayer, nur mit dem Automa zu spielen macht einfach keinen Spaß. ### 2/5 — Glitchy *2024-01-18, version 1.1.0* I’ve played the game a few times and have not yet been able to get through one game without it locking up and not being able to move past the 3rd round. ### 2/5 — Screen error has returned *2023-11-10* Although just solo (looking for AI to play against) I was having some fun with it until the screen locked in an incorrect orientation (which I think was fixed at one time) and it hasn’t been corrected since **Developer response:** Hello, we released an update on August, 2024 that resolves the portrait mode issue. The game is now loading correctly in landscape mode again. We apologize for the major issue this bug caused. ### 4/5 — A ton of potential that needs more development investment *2023-07-24* This feels like a very solid implementation of the Maracaibo board game. It has a ton of potential, but it is also hurt from various things that simply need polishing. * All actions should be undoable within a single turn. In essence you should be able to restart your turn if desired (or at least make this an option in settings). At the moment the undo seems limited, even within a single turn. * The tutorial would greatly benefit from a back button, so that you can easily step back a screen or two and re-read something. * The game doesn't handle mobile devices properly that have the default system font set to a larger size. * On Apple silicon devices (macOS versus iOS) the game starts is the wrong orientation and can not be rotated, so it is basically unplayable, even though it appears to be running fine. On the featureside, it would be great if there was support for multiple online players, both realtime via local bluetooth or internet, and a delayed email-style turn taking feature, where oneplayer takes their turn the other player recives a notifcation that it is their turn and then whever they start the app and take their turn, the next player is notified, etc, so that a game can be played as time allows over a few days, or whatever. It would also be great to see content from the new expansion and any additional promos, etc. ### 1/5 — Locked screen iPad *2023-06-19, version 1.1.0* Just bought the game and the screen is locked into a position making the game unplayable. Looking at the recent patch notes as of 2days ago this is supposedly fixed. Guess not, waste of money. ### 1/5 — Game doesn’t work *2023-06-01, version 1.0.1* The game hangs after the first automatic player move, with no input possible. ### 4/5 — Great with a big bug *2023-05-15* Another person mentioned the board being stuck to where you cannot view the bottom section. this happens to me about 50 percent of the time if I have an unfinished game- if I exit out and log back in , it fixes it SOMETIMES. The way you can tell is if there is a small snippet of the scroll that appears saying to move your ship 1 to 7 spaces. If I log in and see that little Snippet at the top, I immediately shut out of the game and restart it until it goes away - pretty frustrating but it is not game breaking like another mentioned _. Hopefully this gives insight to fix it- also , if they added multiplayer this would be one of the best board game apps on iOS. Thanks! **Developer response:** Hi Cheery, thanks for the review and I'm glad you're enjoying the game! We just released a new update that hopefully addresses the small scroll snippet and stuck board issues. Let us know if the new version solves these issues! Thanks again ### 1/5 — Bug! *2023-04-24* It’s a great game and it’s nice to have the possibility to play on smartphones. But I cannot play because there is too many display’s bug. Impossible to play. I wait an update… FYI I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max. Probably the Max format the problem… **Developer response:** Hello, we released an update on August, 2024 that improves display bugs on iPads and phones with larger screens like the Max. I hope this resolves your issue. There is also an override setting called "Force Mobile Scaling" that may improve this for you. ### 1/5 — Too Buggy *2023-04-08* I have this on an iPhone 12 Pro and it will not scale to the screen consistently. I had to abandon the tutorial but was hoping I could just play a game ( I know how to play the board game ) but it immediately got stuck on the opponent’s first turn by having no way of advancing the text to move the game forward. The way you scroll and scale the screen is terrible, and often leaves icons you need to click in a spot that makes it next to impossible to do so without activating something else. This game needs serious work and thus far was a waste of money. ### 1/5 — App doesn’t work *2023-02-03* I‘m not able to go through the tutorial because the map doesn’t scroll to the bottom part. So you have to fix this application. ### 2/5 — Buggy *2022-12-22, version 1.0.1* Playing on iPhone 13 Pro. I’m trying to learn via tutorial but the camera is at the top of the screen. I can’t see the board at all and have absolutely no idea what’s going on. Prompts come up but I can’t see what’s happening. If I can’t learn the game I can’t play it. I basically threw away $8 ### 1/5 — New issues make this game unplayable *2022-12-15, version 1.0.1* I’ve had this app for about a while now. It does have its issues but it has always worked for me and I’ve enjoyed playing it. However, recently there are bugs in the game that make it unplayable. You can no longer scroll down to see the bottom of the board, which makes it so you can no longer use the Expedition mechanic in the game. Also when you draw back up to your hand size it cuts out half of the cards available to choose from. So the only options you have is draw from the deck or pick one of the 1st two cards. You can no longer look across the board to see the spaces ahead. It gets stuck at the top of the board now. So now you cannot see what Quests are coming up and it causes issues of moving across the main board. I have uninstalled and reinstalled and it works for the 1st game, but if you open the app back up, it goes right back to the same issues. It has been a year since this was updated so I doubt it will be fixed which is a shame since I did enjoy playing this app. ### 2/5 — Decent adaptation but missing AI opponents *2022-07-08* So the digital implementation of the game is pretty good, however, like many others have noted this game lacks AI opponents. I think many would agree this is a major faux pas in 2022 and the dev response of “ a ton of people want it but it’s unlikely at this moment” is also not great. Many would also agree this is an essential feature and the game is incomplete without it. Having a good pass and play set up is essential, especially for those who want to experience the game at many different player counts (which can be impossible IRL). A solid 2/5 until the game is completed with AI opponents. ### 2/5 — Hmm *2022-06-01* The board game is for up to 4 players but this app is a solo affair, which is a shame really. Useful for learning the game and playing an automata is kind of interesting for a bit, but ultimately it is like having a car without an engine. It wouldn’t take much to knock together a rules based ai with a bit of randomness just so we can have a proper game with multiple opponents - I have done a few games where I play myself as an opponent who follows basic rules and it’s OK, but a bit sad. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Only solo *2026-01-23* If I had known only solo was available, I’d have never purchased it. I can play solo with the physical copy. ### 1/5 — Irreführung *2025-11-16* Das man hier lediglich gegen den Automa des Brettspiels spielt, wird vorm Kauf nicht deutlich kommuniziert. Sterbenslangweilig! Ganz schlechtes Kino ### 1/5 — Horrible implementation and horrible dev support *2024-06-24* I gave the developers a chance to respond to this before writing this review. If I could give 0 stars, then I would. The app doesn’t even work on the iPad. It is stuck in a portrait orientation but landscape layout, so the game only takes up half of the screen and the other half is the buttons to start the game, etc. Unplayable. I wrote to the devs twice trying to get support, but was ignored. After a six week wait, I’ve decided to write this review to warn others away. **Developer response:** We have just pushed an update that fixes this portrait orientation issue. I apologize that it has taken us a long time to understand how to solve this issue. Additionally, I'm really sorry that we missed your support requests. We are working on improving the feedback system on our website so this does not happen again. If you still have the game, we would appreciate if you give this new version a try. You can also reach us directly at support@spiralburst.com if you still have issues, or if you wanted assistance with a refund. ### 1/5 — Failure *2024-06-14* Total unbrauchbar. Keine AI Spieler, und der Atoma-Spieler versagt ständig. Sowas darf man nicht zum Kauf anbieten. Hoffentlich kriege ich noch die Rückerstattung. ### 1/5 — No AI in 2024 *2024-02-20, version 1.1.0* You play solitaire version, there are no computer opponents, which makes it BORING ### 1/5 — Not Playable on iPad anymore *2023-10-27* I don’t Know Way but the game is stuck on vertical and cropped. Not playable anymore. Please fix it **Developer response:** Hello, we released an update on August, 2024 that resolves the portrait mode issue. The game is now loading correctly in landscape mode again. We apologize for the major issue this bug caused. ### 1/5 — Jeu impossible *2023-10-24* Impossible de jouer sur iPad, au lancement l’image est coupée je n’ai même pas accès au menu… Rotation impossible ### 1/5 — Broken *2023-10-01* Game is broken, used to work but they’ve changed the orientation and it’s locked so that you can only see half the game and you can’t access anything on the right side. ### 1/5 — Never even got to play *2023-08-16, version 1.1.0* App is buggy right off the bat. It opens in landscape mode but half the picture is off the screen and you can’t see the content. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling, restarting iPad,etc…nothing works. Requested refund. ### 1/5 — Ne fonctionne pas sur mon iPhone 13 mini, *2023-07-26* Je viens d’acheter mais lors de l’ouverture dès la première image elle reste bloquée en haut à gauche et impossible de lancer le jeu ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Best Game On the High Seas *2024-10-18, version 1.1.2* Never any issues with my iPad. This game is deep and brilliantly brought to life. Misses out on the multiplayer front. ### 5/5 — Excellent and faithful implementation of Maracaibo *2023-07-21* Hopefully title says it all. Excellent implementation of the solo version of Maracaibo. Latest update (1.1.0) may have reintroduced a display bug in versions of IOS under V16 but developers are helpful and active on Discord and are aware of the potential issue. ### 5/5 — Update fixed issues *2023-06-21* Issues have been fixed with recent update. One of my favorites to play on my phone. **Developer response:** Hi Idyer14, thanks for this detailed bug report and I apologize for not responding sooner. We have just released a new update to the app which includes a fix for this camera view issue. Please give the new version a try and let us know if you continue to have this issue. Thank you! ### 5/5 — Great game *2022-04-21* Good app! Nevertheless for development I notice a bug : when playin 1vs1 humans in campaign, sometimes at the end of a phase the 2nd player reaching the end can not buy a card or win 2 points, the next phase begins immediatly… (maybe because I play some games vs Jean and some vs human?) ### 5/5 — Love this game, needs a little more *2022-04-13* Loving this implementation of one of my favorite board games. In this game you are a hired gun on the high seas hire your crew (card tableau) and specializing in a few actions while racing your opponents to the end of the round. Thinky fun! I’m currently just playing the solo mode within the campaign so I can’t comment on multiplayer. With a few tweaks the game will be perfect but even as is it’s great to pick up my phone/iPad wherever I am and play a game of Maracaibo. If you have a smaller phone I wouldn’t recommend it but it works fine on my old 8 plus. **Developer response:** Hi, thanks so much for this great review! I'm glad you're enjoying the solo mode and the portability. We spent a lot of time on the UI design to make sure everything fits : ) ### 5/5 — Perfect Digital Adaptation *2022-01-15* Developers take notice. This is the cleanest port to digital I’ve ever tried for a board game. It strives to be as close to the physical board game experience as possible. It’s the boards, the cards and simple menus. AI is the actual solo mode from the physical game. Again, I really feel like they wanted to keep this as close to the physical board game experience as possible and they succeeded. I’m looking forward to any future projects this developer announces. **Developer response:** Hi Superbojangs, thanks for this awesome review! That really means a lot to us, we're so glad you are enjoying the game. We'll keep everyone posted if we announce new games - best way to follow us is on our Twitter or Discord, which you can find links to in the "More from Spiralburst" button in the Maracaibo app. Have a good day! ### 5/5 — So Here’s the Thing…. *2022-01-05* It would be tempting to give this 4 stars because of the lack of online multiplayer and AI… but, reading the devs responses to other comments that they wanted to build a “solid foundation” first- I have to give them props that they definitely accomplished that goal. This game is built very well! Also, major bonus points for probably the best digital board game tutorial I have ever seen- it was so thorough and easy to follow. The only thing I will say is that it’s a bit disappointing this isn’t full screen on the iPhones… I get it with the notch and everything… but that’s pretty much expected at this point. **Developer response:** Hi thenmrkid, thanks so much for this great review! It means a lot that you think the game is built well, especially the tutorial. We did put a lot of effort into that part of the app! We also know how many people want AI and online play, so we can revisit those features as the app has gotten to a good place. As for the iPhone formatting - this is something we can try to work on too, so the notch phones can have full screen space. These things just need to be special-cased for specific devices which takes time, since other devices types besides iPhone also have different notches/"safe areas" that all need to look good. ### 5/5 — Must have boardgame, must have digitalized version *2022-01-03* What else can we say about Alexander Pfister's Maracaibo tabletop game except that it would have been a huge deception not to have its digital version. Can't wait for the physical expansion, hope it'll be adapted too 😗 Thanks to the Spiralburst team for the good work done. (Any chance of an multiplayers online mode?) Don't think twice, go for it, this game is mind blowing 🤯 ### 5/5 — Incroyable adaptation *2021-12-27* Amazing work on this application ! Same feeling as when we play at Agricola on IPad : everything is super easy to understand, fluid and it’s the same sensation as the real game ! Wow, really really good job !! Un boulot d’adaptation incroyable sur cette appli qu’on attendait avec impatience ! Quand on connaît le jeu physique, la prise en main est quasi instantanée et ultra agréable et fluide. Un must have si vous êtes fan du jeu de Pfister ! ### 5/5 — Great implementation *2021-12-26* Online multiplayer would be better but this is a really fantastic implementation of a complicated board game. The little tooltips to explain every card and tile are especially wonderful. Really been having a great time with this so far. (Actually it would also be great to have a turn log so you can see what happened earlier.) **Developer response:** Hi, thanks for this awesome review! We are recording all the requests for online multiplayer so we've logged your feedback on that. A turn log is also a good suggestion, will discuss with the team --- *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 2026-09-05.*