# Sword of Fargoal - GameClub — user reviews > 230 indexed App Store user reviews of Sword of Fargoal by GameClub, rated 4.40/5 from 905 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sword-of-fargoal-gameclub/id343242870/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sword-of-fargoal-gameclub/id343242870.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 646 · 4★ 115 · 3★ 72 · 2★ 26 · 1★ 46 ## What do users think of Sword of Fargoal? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Smooth gameplay - 🎮 Addictive classic dungeon crawler - 🎨 Retro visuals and sound - 👍 Simple and intuitive controls - 🕹️ Nostalgic for C64 fans - 💰 Good value for money **Cons** - 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs - 🔁 Repetitive gameplay - 🔍 Lack of in-game information/tutorials - 🔒 Requires account/subscription to play **Commonly reported bugs** - Game freezes on continue screen - Incompatible with newer iOS versions - Issues with in-app purchases **Most requested features** - More enemy and item variety - Save/load feature - Inventory management improvements - Difficulty settings/customization - Online/social features ## Newest reviews (10 of 230) ### 3/5 — Great game even better, but now with ads?? *2020-12-22, version 1.9.32* Update: WTH?? I'm now seeing ads in the game even though I pay for the service! That better be a bug and not a change in the platform, because I'm not paying a monthly service fee to see ads! A great game just got even better with this latest update - lots of cool new additions that have added great depth to a fun dungeon crawler. ### 4/5 — Love this game! *2020-09-23, version 1.9.23* Classic and great dungeon crawler style gameplay. I bought this many years ago and love it. However have left just 4 stars because on this iPhone 7 after the update two days ago, it crashes loading my save game! Not happy. On final iOS 14 release now. Please fix! Thanks. Previous version of the game worked fine on the iOS 14 beta releases. ### 4/5 — Fantastic game... ads are annoying *2020-08-19, version 1.9.22* I bought this game years ago and absolutely love it. It has ads now which are super annoying. Still a great game, but a bummer that it’s polluted with that garbage. ### 2/5 — Meh *2020-02-01* I first played this on my Commodore 64. I miss the text version. Here, too few opportunities for upgrade to character, and too many restarts from getting killed, even when a level. Retreat and regeneration takes too long. May as well get killed, regenerate fast, and stick to getting experience points by killing vermin and hope the next level provides enough of a buffer to survive something bigger. Gets boring. ### 4/5 — Not Free with adds *2020-01-10, version 1.9.11* They make it sound like it is free with adds, but when you try to keep playing it won’t let you with out a paid game club. ### 5/5 — Sword of Fargoal *2019-10-17, version 1.9.3* A priceless step back into time, that adds the graphics of the future. SO well done!! Add a level creator and you have a classic worth its weight in Gold😍 ### 2/5 — Game abandoned by developer-why!?! *2016-09-07, version 1.7* This is one of the best, if not the best rogue-like game out there. Sadly,it freezes on the iPhone 6 Plus. There have been no updates in years and no developer responses to emails. It's probably time to remove it from the App Store. ### 5/5 — Please Fix Your Awesome Game *2016-08-26, version 1.7* Have enjoyed this immensely, but now it locks up when continuing a paused game. I see others with same issue. Make it happen! ### 1/5 — Buggy *2016-03-15, version 1.7* Game hangs on continue screen at times and only fix is to reinstall which dumps progress. After reinstall, if you choose to try again, you will eventually encounter the same bug. ### 2/5 — No longer works *2016-01-01, version 1.7* App freezes on the main menu. No longer playable. Very sad = ( ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Subscription only now *2025-02-06, version 1.9.37* So here’s the skinny on GameClub. They make you pay a monthly subscription to play the game (and others, sure). You can’t buy it anymore. You get 15 minutes of play before you are expected to commit to a one-month free trial period. No thanks. ### 1/5 — Can no longer play game *2022-02-20, version 1.9.37* Game throws a full-screen popup requiring me to register an account. I do not wish to, but it will not let me play the game otherwise, effectively making it a useless piece of software. Breaking the game like this after I paid for it years ago is unacceptable. ### 1/5 — Bought subscription only to be told I didn’t *2021-12-26, version 1.9.37* I bought a subscription only to be told I didn’t. There is no ‘restore purchases’ button and when I try to resubscribe it bombs out. :/ ### 1/5 — No path for previous purchase *2021-08-25* I am an original owner of Fargoal on IOS and MacOS. Love the game and the original developers. However, since the game was sold, ALL previous versions broke with iOS updates. This version has no restore option for previous purchase. I am a big believer that if you buy something, you own it. Don't waste you money on a subscription. Before you know it, you will be spending hundreds of dollars on subscriptions a month with nothing to own at the end. ### 1/5 — Crap *2021-03-05, version 1.9.36* This was an excellent game yet GameClub has killed it. I would pay a one time price of $50 if they could actually fix it and just keep it fixed. Cannot name character. I’ve firmly decided to avoid anything associated with GameClub after my experience. Good thing I have an old outdated iPad that has the original on it that works perfectly. ### 1/5 — Does not work with iOS 14 *2021-01-30, version 1.9.34* App does not work with iOS 14 ### 1/5 — Requires you to give personal info to 3rd party. *2020-06-25, version 1.9.19* I bought this game with money many years back and recently reinstalled it. It’s now asking me to give my email address to some random third party company to play it. This is very untrustworthy and I feel people are better off finding something else. ### 1/5 — Waste of money *2020-06-22* At first I was thrilled to see again the Sword of Fargoal. I loved the old app and was heartbroken when it was no longer updated to work with later versions of iOS. Too bad this version introduced glitches — screens that freeze, inability to stop the player from walking in a particular direction, and action that can some stall when picking up objects are trying to access one’s sack of belongings. After a call to Apple to preclude the problem was not systemic, I decided to cancel my free month. It’s just not worth it playing a game that does not work properly. Sorry. Rogue, RIP. This app is a dud. ### 1/5 — Good game, but not worth a subscription. *2019-10-24, version 1.9.7* Impossible to play without signing up for a monthly fee. Whilst a one off fee would be viable (assuming this is a true recreation of the original) a monthly fee really is not acceptable. ### 1/5 — No Longer Works *2016-10-05, version 1.7* You could play prior to ios 10, just without being able to change the player name. Now the game doesn't work at all. Do not purchase, the one hit wonder's single wonder is finally completely broken. This game had its day on the Commodore 64, thirty years ago. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Please add a mode *2022-12-11* I love this game. Played it as a kid on my C64. Got the sword once then but didnt make it back. Was thrilled to find it in the app store and have gotten back into it again. Yesterday i realized it would be really great to an add a game mode that saves the state of your last temple visit. Then if you die the game is restored to it. Please add this! It allows still for consequences for dying, but doesnt send one all the way back to the beginning (people have less time nowadays) ### 5/5 — Best game ever *2022-04-05, version 1.9.37* Loved it as a kid, great strategy and simple entertaining as an adult. ### 5/5 — Great game *2021-08-10, version 1.9.37* If you are a previous purchaser of the game, they still support people who perpetually purchased it. Great move and a great game! Thank tou ### 5/5 — Very cool game *2020-07-01, version 1.9.19* I love this game . ### 5/5 — Previously Purchased? Don’t Need To Join *2020-03-27* If you’ve bought this or any other GameClub game, you don’t need to join! Just create an account, then download your purchases straight from App Store. Your registration info will be used to verify previous purchases, then you’re off and playing with no subscription necessary. This is not an exploit or a workaround. ### 5/5 — ... *2020-01-08, version 1.9.11* Sword of Fargoal has long been missing from the App Store—an unfortunate casualty of not being updated as iOS advanced. Many games have disappeared like that, but none stung quite as much as Sword of Fargoal. I have spent so much time on this game over the years. BUT WE’RE BACK, BABY! Sword of Fargoal is finally returned to the App Store and I’m poised once again to sink uncomfortable amounts of time into dungeon exploration. At first Sword of Fargoal seems simple: Enter dungeon, explore, beat enemies, rinse, wash, repeat until you either win (which is really freakin’ hard) or die. But that initial impression gives way as you start discovering all the little details that make exploration so fun: hidden passageways, hidden doors, trap-laden labyrinths with treasure (or nothing?) at the center. Battles are dice rolls based on stats; once you initiate they unfold automatically—although you do have choices if it’s not going well: Attempt to disengage by running, or teleport away (if you have a teleport spell). That’s how I die—believing I can save that teleport for a better time, then all of a sudden my health is nil. The variety of settings and treasure make pushing through the foggy dungeons a true joy. Watching the map reveal while descending the various levels required to get to the bottom. Yes, this is a rogue-like, a genre that has had many entries, but none are as strong, as engaging, as compulsively replayable as Sword of Fargoal. I’ve played this game since its original iOS release and I still feel like I could turn up something new and incredible as I push forward in the randomly generated dungeons. It’s what makes Sword of Fargoal so incredibly compulsive. ### 5/5 — Fargoal *2019-12-24, version 1.9.11* I love this game! Been missing for years. Love killing monsters and going exploring. ### 5/5 — Very fun rogue like game *2019-10-27, version 1.9.8* This review is for the full version which I purchased years ago in the AppStore. I have the full version without the GameClub subscription. There used to be two versions of this game in the App Store, Fargoal and Sword of Fargoal. From their appearance they always looked almost identical. Gameplay: 5/5 Visuals:: 4/5 Sound: 5/5 Replayability: 4/5 Fargoal is an old gem of a game. Some people know it because apparently a version of it was available on Apple computers. Fargoal offers good depth and plenty of open choice of action to keep the player’s attention on it. First you get to roll the dice and get a distribution of skill you like for your character, choose male or female, and a name. Normal things. Then you play by discovering the dungeon by gradually removing the fog of war and completing your map. Along the way you can collect Gold, Spells, or Potions. You fight diverse selection of enemies. All standard more or less. The game becomes really fun when you have to strategize and take known risks. You could find a hole in the wall which leads to a different level which usually is a little more difficult but also more rewarding. Very fun because these levels can have very different enemies, different appearance, and different music. You can also fall through the floor to any of the lower floors which also have same unknowns as the hole in the wall. But you have no choice if it appears under you. You just fall. Very fun. Many spells you can find are great and give you more gameplay choices. You cannot keep gathering gold indefinitely. You have limited space in your bag. You have to find a spot where gold you found becomes converted to experience. So you have to think whether to go back and find it or to keep exploring. You can also bury your gold if you don’t find the exchange spot. Big feature of this game is music and visual design. Visually the game is simple but it’s done to feel and look almost like old computer games. Music is very unusual and atmospheric. It’s rare that music is not annoying . The sfx are great as well. They don’t sound like recycled sound you can hear repeat in many games. Highly recommended. ### 5/5 — One of the best relives! *2019-10-26, version 1.9.8* A classic rogue game brought back to life has lost none of its greatness over the years. ### 5/5 — Greatness *2019-10-26, version 1.9.8* One of my favourite iPhone games and it’s going strong on GameClub. --- *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 2026-06-10.*