Comparison

A Short Tale vs cardinal.

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

A Short Tale

Embark on a first-person point-and-click adventure where you shrink to toy size and explore a brother's room. Solve puzzles, collect items, and uncover clues in a charming, nostalgia-inducing environment with trademark humor.

Highlights
  • First-person point and click adventure
  • Toy-sized room exploration
  • Charming and nostalgic environment
  • Humorous puzzles
  • Glitch Camera for clues
  • Item collection and usage
  • Auto-save feature
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

"For anyone who just wants to play a game chock-full of fun and unusual puzzles while exploring a charming and nostalgia-inducing environment, A Short Tale provides plenty of entertainment for a few hours." – AdventureGamers Shrink down and experience a childhood bedroom like never before in this heartwarming first-person point-and-click puzzle adventure. Years after losing his younger brother Ben, Jason returns to the place where everything changed forever. Drawn back by a mysterious presence, he makes one impossible wish—to be small again. Suddenly, an ordinary bedroom becomes a vast world filled with towering furniture, hidden secrets, clever puzzles, and unforgettable memories. Explore every corner, collect useful items, uncover hidden clues, and solve challenging escape room-style puzzles as you unravel an emotional story about family, loss, and growing up. If you enjoy point-and-click adventures, escape room games, hidden object puzzles, and story-rich mystery games, A Short Tale is for you. Features • Immersive first-person point-and-click adventure. • Explore a giant bedroom from a tiny perspective. • Solve clever puzzles and escape room-inspired challenges. • Collect items, discover hidden clues, and unlock new areas. • Use the unique Glitch Camera to reveal secrets and keep track of clues. • Emotional story filled with nostalgia, mystery, and discovery. • Beautiful atmospheric soundtrack. • Signature Glitch Games humour. • Auto-save ensures you never lose your progress. • No ads or in-app purchases. Can you uncover the memories hidden within a room that once felt like home? – Glitch Games is a small independent game studio from the UK, creating premium mystery, escape room, and puzzle adventure games that players around the world love. Follow us for updates, news, and behind-the-scenes content: Discord: discord.gg/glitchgames Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlitchGames/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glitch.games Newsletter: https://glitch.games/newsletter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theglitchgames/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GlitchGames

About

cardinal.

Engage in a minimalistic logic puzzle game where you deduce a secret solution using sixteen cards and clues. Enjoy procedurally generated boards for endless play and compete globally in daily challenges.

Highlights
  • Minimalistic logic puzzles
  • Deduce secret solutions
  • Procedurally generated boards
  • Endless regular mode
  • Daily global competitions
  • 16 logic cards
Features
Read full description

Minimalistic yet challenging, CARDINAL gives you sixteen different cards and clues in which you must figure out the secret solution! Begin with the cardinal rule you can then continue to creatively deduce the solution from there! An endless amount of procedurally generated boards waits for you in regular mode. And when you feel ready, test yourself in the daily competition alongside players from all over the globe.

Screenshots

A Short Tale4 screens
cardinal.3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: cardinal. at Free against A Short Tale's $3.99. cardinal. also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 5 months) and rating (4.9 vs 4.6). A Short Tale's advantage is ratings volume (246 vs 14) and chart position (#195 vs unranked). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

cardinal. is free to download; A Short Tale costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

cardinal. holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: A Short Tale has 246 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of A Short Tale's written reviews are positive against 80% of cardinal.'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

A Short Tale ships an update every 5 months, cardinal. every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
A Short Tale versus cardinal.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterA Short Talecardinal.
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (246 ratings)4.9 (14 ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.2% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings246 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#195 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.011.0
Further details — not scored
Size290 MB99 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGlitch GamesPerfect Hat Games LLC

Customer experience

A Short Tale

All ratings245 ratings
Positive89.8%
Neutral4.1%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews128 reviews
Positive74.2%
Neutral11.7%
Negative14.1%

cardinal.

All ratings14 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral7.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

A Short Tale

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Camera/photo album icon overlap issue
  • Crossword puzzle glitch causing game to freeze
  • Missing puzzle elements preventing completion

Requested features

3 requests
  • Hint system or built-in walkthrough
  • Improved navigation and screen loading times
  • More logical and intuitive puzzle design

cardinal.

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

A Short Tale

No in-app purchases

None

cardinal.

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is A Short Tale free?
A Short Tale costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is cardinal. free?
cardinal. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, A Short Tale or cardinal.?
cardinal. is rated higher. A Short Tale averages 4.6 out of 5 from 246 ratings, while cardinal. averages 4.9 from 14 ratings.
Do A Short Tale or cardinal. have ads?
Neither A Short Tale nor cardinal. shows ads.
Which is updated more often, A Short Tale or cardinal.?
A Short Tale ships an update every 5 months, and cardinal. every 3 days. Most recently, A Short Tale was updated on October 21, 2026 and cardinal. on October 24, 2026.

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