Comparison

Card Thief vs Stormbound

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

Head to head
About

Card Thief

A solitaire-style stealth game where you play as a master thief. Sneak through darkness, steal treasure, and escape without getting caught. It offers deep strategy and roguelike replayability in short, engaging sessions.

Highlights
  • Solitaire-style stealth gameplay
  • 4 unique heists
  • Unlockable equipment cards
  • Hireable thieves with special rules
  • Mini deck-building mechanics
  • Daily Heist mode with leaderboards
  • Roguelike replayability
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

Card Thief is a solitaire-style stealth card game that transforms your deck into a shadowy world of cunning heists and daring escapes. Sneak through the darkness as a master thief. Extinguish torches, pickpocket guards, and steal precious treasure without getting caught. Every card you flip is a calculated risk. Every move could be your last. From the makers of Card Crawl, the hit indie card dungeon crawler, Card Thief distills the tension of classic stealth games into a sleek, strategic card game you can play in minutes. Easy to learn, endlessly deep. Plan. Steal. Escape. Repeat. With a rich layer of tactical decision-making, risk/reward choices, and roguelike replayability, Card Thief is the perfect pick-up-and-play strategy card game for fans of stealth, puzzle games, and solo card games alike. Features - Solitaire-style stealth gameplay with no internet required - 4 unique heists with distinct enemies, traps, and obstacles - 12 unlockable and upgradable equipment cards with unique abilities - Hire 10 thieves, each with special gameplay rules - Mini deck-building mechanics for deep strategic customization - Daily Heist mode with global leaderboards - Roguelike replayability so every run plays differently - Perfect session length of 2 to 3 minutes per game - Offline play, great for travel

About

Stormbound

Engage in strategic turn-based tactical battles by building a powerful deck of collectible cards. Outsmart opponents worldwide in real-time PVP, customize your profile, and compete for seasonal rewards.

Highlights
  • Deck building
  • Collectible cards
  • Turn-based tactical battles
  • Real-time PVP
  • Four distinct kingdoms
  • Seasonal events and rewards
  • Profile customization
Features
Read full description

Stormbound: PVP Card Battle - Where deck building for Collectible Cards and Strategic gameplay collide in unique PVP Turn-based Tactical battles. Embark on an epic journey in Stormbound, where the clash of four kingdoms unfolds in a strategic battle for dominance. Craft and build a powerful deck, engage in real-time PVP card battles against players worldwide! Ultimate Card Battle: Watch Your Deck Shine Dive into the thrill of collecting dozens of cards to craft your powerful deck! Experience the magic as each card transforms the board into the battle on a battlefield! Strategically play your cards to outsmart your opponent in this tactical card battle. Dominate the board Discover the powers of four mighty kingdoms, each with its own cool advantages and playstyles. Uncover the strengths that set them apart, and shape your effective strategy accordingly to dominate the board. Real-time PVP Card Battle Battle players across the globe in electrifying head-to-head PVP battles! Forge your path to victory through various challenges awaiting you on the game board. Unlock a bounty of valuable resources to enhance your card and deck collection. Master your deck building skills to conquer the card battle ladder. Customize your profile Unleash your emotions with fun and personalized emotes that let you truly express yourself in the heat of the PVP battle. Spice up your customized profile by choosing a cool avatar from our diverse collection, making your account uniquely yours. Battle your way to the top league Battle for seasonal ranking and great rewards, try your best in confronting diverse challenges across various card battle game modes. Upgrade your cards, master your deck building skills and tactics to conquer the battle and get to the top league. Seasonal Events Enjoy seasonal battle events and unlock special rewards, enriching your collection of cards, decks and resources. Use your collection of cards to build strategic decks tailored for seasonal battles. Claim victory in challenging battles where the worlds of strategy and collectible cards collide in tactical gameplay! Terms of Service: https://stormboundgames.com/terms

Screenshots

Card Thief4 screens
Stormbound4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Stormbound at fortnightly against Card Thief's every 4 months. Stormbound also leads on ratings volume (9K vs 981). Card Thief's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Card Thief sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Stormbound sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Card Thief holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stormbound has 9K ratings behind it against 981, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Card Thief's written reviews are positive against 64% of Stormbound's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Card Thief ships an update every 4 months, Stormbound fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Card Thief versus Stormbound: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCard ThiefStormbound
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (981 ratings) — better4.5 (9K ratings)
Positive reviews69.9% of reviews — better63.6% of reviews
Number of ratings9819K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size161 MB524 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperArnold RauersStormbound Games

Customer experience

Card Thief

All ratings981 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral1.3%
Negative4.5%
Written reviews478 reviews
Positive69.9%
Neutral9.4%
Negative20.7%

Stormbound

All ratings9,018 ratings
Positive89.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews1,579 reviews
Positive63.6%
Neutral11.3%
Negative25.1%

User reviews

Card Thief

From 981 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 👍 Fun and unique stealth mechanics
  • 👍 Very fun for offline gaming
  • 👍 New favorite card game
  • 👍 Creative and addictive game

Room to improve

  • ❓ What is the goal?
  • 🐛 Issueee
  • 🐛 Buggy
  • 🐛 Crashes on load
  • 🐛 Cannot select path

Stormbound

From 9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Better than Clash Royale
  • 🔒 No ads
  • 👍 Fantastic game
  • 👍 Fun and creative cards
  • 👍 Cohesive combat

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Pay to win
  • 🐛 Unbalanced cards
  • 🐛 Unfair matchmaking
  • 🐛 Slow progression for F2P
  • 🐛 Frustrating level caps

Bugs and requests

Card Thief

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Crystals which you can get when playing are useless
  • Notch covers game information on iPhone X+
  • Ads error prevents chest opening
  • Hideout heists have unrealistically high scores
  • Can't open hideout, game crashes
Show 4 more
  • Crashes right after starting on M1 iPad Pro with iPadOS 14.7.1
  • Crashes all the time
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices

Requested features

9 requests
  • More enemies or traps to deal with
  • More equipment to try out
  • 4x4 layout rather than 3x3
  • Endless mode
  • Multiplayer compatibility
Show 4 more
  • Sync game data between Android and iOS
  • Shop to use crystals
  • More levels, incentives, and variations in the Hideout games
  • Ability to cash in stolen goods for new tool cards or special cards

Stormbound

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login/loading issues
  • Card placement bugs
  • Deck editing problems
  • Inconsistent card rotation

Requested features

7 requests
  • Offline mode
  • Clan/guild system
  • Chat functionality
  • Spectate mode
  • Leaderboard/ranking display
Show 2 more
  • More PvE content
  • Improved social features

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Card Thief

One-time1
  • Unlock Card Thief$4.99
13 purchases

Stormbound

Subscriptions1
  • Premium pass$7.991 Month
One-time12
  • Daily resources$1.99
  • Daily cards$1.99
  • Welcome Pack$4.99
Show 9 more
  • Handful of Rubies$4.99
  • Premium Pass$4.99
  • Generic package 7$$6.99
  • Premium Pass$7.99
  • Shredded Journal$9.99
  • Tribal Tome$9.99
  • Bunch of Rubies$9.99
  • Weekly cards$9.99
  • Heap of Rubies$19.99

Questions

Is Card Thief free?
Card Thief is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stormbound free?
Stormbound is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Card Thief or Stormbound?
Card Thief is rated higher. Card Thief averages 4.7 out of 5 from 981 ratings, while Stormbound averages 4.5 from 9K ratings.
Do Card Thief or Stormbound have ads?
Both Card Thief and Stormbound show ads.
Which is updated more often, Card Thief or Stormbound?
Card Thief ships an update every 4 months, and Stormbound fortnightly. Most recently, Card Thief was updated on September 23, 2026 and Stormbound on September 25, 2026.

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