Comparison

HardBack vs That's Pretty Clever

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

Head to head
About

HardBack

Build a deck of letters to craft words and earn prestige in this unique word game. Specialize in genres, push your luck for extra cards, and race to become a celebrated 19th-century novelist. Challenge AI opponents or play with friends.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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!

About

That's Pretty Clever

A fast-paced dice game for all ages where strategic choices create chain reactions to earn victory points. Carefully select dice to fill color-matched areas, but avoid being too greedy to preserve valuable moves. Compete globally for high scores and unlock achievements.

Highlights
  • Strategic dice selection
  • Chain reaction scoring
  • Color-matched scoring areas
  • High score list
  • Global competition
  • Achievement collection
Features
Read full description

"Ganz schön clever" is a fast but smart dice game for clever players of all ages. The dice want to be chosen quite clever here. Cause good choices can lead to tricky chain reactions to fill more than one field at a time. Each selected dice entered in the color-matched area which will provide victory points at the end of the game. But beware: who is too greedy and chooses the highest dice early, loses valuable moves. Collect achievements for special performances! Place in the highscore list! Hunt the highscore and compete against the worldwide community! The new hit from the "klein & fein" series. Nominated for Connoisseur's Game of the Year

Screenshots

HardBack4 screens
That's Pretty Clever4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: HardBack at none against That's Pretty Clever's 1. HardBack also leads on review sentiment (54% vs 33%) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks). That's Pretty Clever's advantage is chart position (#163 vs unranked) and ratings volume (223 vs 40). On rating, ads 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

HardBack costs $4.99 and That's Pretty Clever $3.99 up front. That's Pretty Clever sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. HardBack asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.8 for HardBack against 3.9 for That's Pretty Clever. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: That's Pretty Clever has 223 ratings behind it against 40, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 54% of HardBack's written reviews are positive against 33% of That's Pretty Clever's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HardBack ships an update every 2 weeks, That's Pretty Clever every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
HardBack versus That's Pretty Clever: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHardBackThat's Pretty Clever
Price$4.99$3.99 — better
Rating3.8 (40 ratings)3.9 (223 ratings) — better
Positive reviews53.7% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings40223 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#163 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better11.0
Further details — not scored
Size281 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFowers Games Inc.BrettspielWelt

Customer experience

HardBack

All ratings39 ratings
Positive64.1%
Neutral12.8%
Negative23.1%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive53.7%
Neutral12.2%
Negative34.1%

That's Pretty Clever

All ratings218 ratings
Positive65.6%
Neutral16.1%
Negative18.3%
Written reviews186 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral24.7%
Negative41.9%

User reviews

HardBack

From 40 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great game concept
  • 👍 Faithfully represents board game
  • 👍 Fun deck-building mechanics
  • 👍 Good for couples/multiplayer
  • 👍 Solid graphics and art

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes/freezing
  • 🐛 Online multiplayer issues
  • 🐛 Login/password reset problems
  • 🐛 Clunky/annoying UI
  • 🐛 Dictionary missing common words

That's Pretty Clever

From 223 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Great digital adaptation of the board game
  • 🎯 Challenging and strategic
  • 💡 Potential for high scores and improvements

Room to improve

  • 🔒 No multiplayer or online play
  • 🔒 Only solo mode available
  • 🐛 Buggy or unstable app experience
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 👎 Lacking in features and customization options

Bugs and requests

HardBack

Reported bugs

38 issues
  • App keeps crashing during online games
  • Game gets into a state where it won't accept taps
  • Accidentally moving letters
  • HTTP errors
  • Black ink store is hidden on extended screens
Show 33 more
  • App is tiny, painful to use, needs zoom
  • Backgrounds instantly on launch
  • Bombs out on older iOS versions
  • AI opponent freezes and app crashes
  • Locks up after inspecting offer row
  • New invites not showing up
  • Passwords not working
  • Cannot reset password
  • App refuses to let you create a new account with email
  • Online system down, cannot log in
  • Crashes even on high-end devices
  • Cannot look at online games between turns
  • Bug with Romance cards doubling effect
  • Game locks up intermittently after inspecting offer row cards
  • AI player scores unusually high on first turn
  • Online multiplayer is unusable, cannot add new friends
  • Lost all friends and open games, cannot add them back
  • UI feels clunky, especially async online play
  • Can’t log in or reset password
  • Glitch that eventually disallows playing online
  • Technical support does not address issues
  • Locks you out of account, says incorrect password
  • Reset password gets stuck
  • AI player (hard) scores .06 cents on first turn
  • Dictionary doesn't accept standard words
  • Broken on iPhone 11 Pro, display fails to adjust
  • App is tiny, painful to use, needs zoom
  • AI opponent hangs during AI's turn
  • Freezes sometimes
  • Bombs out on IOS 9.3.5
  • Bug: If I had two Romance cards with the doubling effect it wouldn’t let me use it with both cards.
  • On the iPhone it loses track of ink and has scoring glitches.
  • On the iPad it occasionally freezes.

Requested features

16 requests
  • German localization
  • Coin-VP slider and ink-remover slider
  • Swipe-down to dismiss letter
  • Keyboard support for typing letters
  • Keyboard shortcuts for pressing your luck
Show 11 more
  • Statistics for local scores
  • Leaderboard function
  • Zoom and pan around the board
  • Sound notifications
  • See board even if not their turn (like Carcassonne)
  • Bar along the bottom for player score and ink counts
  • More defined and identifiable buttons
  • Ability to stay in game and play with letters while waiting for turn
  • Better tutorial explanation of abilities
  • Dark mode option
  • Option to adjust victory point goal for game length

That's Pretty Clever

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Dice rolls not working as expected
  • Achievements/stats not updating correctly
  • Inability to exit/return to main menu during game
  • Compatibility issues on newer devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Multiplayer mode (online, pass-and-play)
  • Personal high score tracking
  • Undo/restart game option
  • In-game rules and tutorial
  • Settings to customize audio and UI

In-app purchases

None

HardBack

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

That's Pretty Clever

One-time1
  • Pretty Clever - Challenge 2$0.99

Questions

Is HardBack free?
HardBack costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is That's Pretty Clever free?
That's Pretty Clever costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HardBack or That's Pretty Clever?
That's Pretty Clever is rated higher. HardBack averages 3.8 out of 5 from 40 ratings, while That's Pretty Clever averages 3.9 from 223 ratings.
Do HardBack or That's Pretty Clever have ads?
Neither HardBack nor That's Pretty Clever shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HardBack or That's Pretty Clever?
HardBack ships an update every 2 weeks, and That's Pretty Clever every 6 weeks. Most recently, HardBack was updated on October 29, 2026 and That's Pretty Clever on October 29, 2026.

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