The Bard's Tale vs Shakedown
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Bard's Tale
Embark on a massive 3D epic role-playing adventure filled with humor and magic. Summon allies, explore a vast world, and battle diverse enemies. This critically acclaimed game offers hours of engaging gameplay with a full cast of characters and a rich inventory.
- Massive 3D epic role-playing game
- Magical song summoning
- Vast world exploration
- 50+ enemy types
- Over 150 unique items
- Includes classic trilogy
- iCloud saves
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#1 RPG in 75 countries, including USA, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Japan, and China! Sync your saved games between iOS and Mac! Includes classic games trilogy! They said it couldn’t be done… a full-scale massive 3D epic role-playing game on iOS! See why it’s the BIGGEST iOS game ever made! “The Bard’s Tale is easily the funniest game I’ve ever played, and I’ve played all the funny games out there.” – IGN You are the Bard, a selfish rogue weary of pointless sub-quests and rat-infested cellars. Through magical song you summon characters to join your quest for coin and cleavage! “Ready your weapon and bladder as you embark on this ridiculously addicting quest and the funniest adventure of the year, The Bard’s Tale” – Game Chronicles Prepare to immerse yourself in over 20-30 hours of adventure, featuring: • 50 enemy types (not counting bosses!) • A vast world to explore with towns, wild forests, rivers, castles, towers, secret dungeons, snowy mountains, caverns, haunted tombs and more • A full cast of bizarre NPC’s • Over a dozen special boss enemies to defeat • 16 magical characters to discover and then summon at will to aid you • Over 150 unique items of weaponry, armor, instruments, tokens, artifacts and loot! • More Song & Dance numbers than any other game, including a zombie dance-off! • Over 14 hours of outstanding voice-acting from top Hollywood talent, including Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) as the Bard, and the inimitable Tony Jay as the Narrator But wait! That’s not all! Enjoy these great new additions in the iOS version: New Features: • Leaderboards—for accumulated Silver and Experience! • Achievements—over 50 spread throughout the game! • Autosave—option to save automatically when you near a save-book in game. • iCloud Saves—option to save to iCloud, enables sharing saves across your iOS devices. • Time-Savers—optional in-app purchases are available to pump up your Bard and save you time! (Note: All such items are attainable through normal game-play, with time and persistence, just as in the original console release.) • Classics Games—includes original classic games The Bard’s Tale 1, 2 & 3. • Supports 60beat® GamePad. Universal App with Adaptive Rendering: For a single low price, play on all your compatible* devices! The Bard’s Tale takes full advantage of your hardware to maximize your experience--including HD resolution and 60Hz video refresh on capable devices.** iOS adaptation by Square One Games. “This game is satire in its sharpest form” – Cheat Code Central Play The Bard’s Tale today! * Compatible with iOS 4.0 and higher on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 3rd generation, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPad, and iPad2&3. ** HD on iPhone 4S/5, iPad2,Mini,3&4, iPod Touch 5G. Enhanced rendering includes: environment mapping, dynamic water surfaces, full shadow cast, and 60Hz display-refresh (with in-game “Battery Savings” option turned off). Support: We are committed to improvement. Please send support requests through The Bard’s Tale Support link below. IT IS HUGE! Please note: Installation over Wi-Fi can temporarily require as much as 3.4GB of free space on your device.
Shakedown
Embark on a 16-bit open-world adventure where you build a business empire. Complete missions, acquire properties, and sabotage rivals to dominate the island. Explore by land, sea, or air, uncovering secrets and engaging in arcade challenges.
- 16-bit open world exploration
- Business acquisition and management
- Mission-based gameplay
- Sabotage competitors
- Vehicle and boat traversal
- Arcade challenges and side quests
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A brand new open world adventure from the creator of Retro City Rampage DX! The entire island is up for grabs. Build your own "legitimate" corporation by completing missions, acquiring businesses, sabotaging competitors, "re-zoning" land, and shaking down shops for protection money. Explore the 16-bit open world by foot, by car, or by boat. It's filled with arcade challenges, side quests, stores to shop at, houses to burgle, civilians to interact with, and secrets to discover. Build your empire and destroy the competition... in Shakedown: Hawaii.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shakedown at none against The Bard's Tale's 10. Shakedown also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). The Bard's Tale's advantage is ratings volume (658 vs 20) and price ($2.99 vs $4.99). On ads, monetization model 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
The Bard's Tale costs $2.99 and Shakedown $4.99 up front. The Bard's Tale sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Shakedown asks for nothing beyond the download.
Shakedown holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Bard's Tale has 658 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of The Bard's Tale's written reviews are positive against 92% of Shakedown's.
The Bard's Tale ships an update every 3 months, Shakedown fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Bard's Tale | Shakedown |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (658 ratings) | 4.9 (20 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.4% of reviews | 91.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 658 — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.7 GB | 124 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | inXile Entertainment | Vblank Entertainment Inc. |
Customer experience
The Bard's Tale
Shakedown
Bugs and requests
The Bard's Tale
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes on startup
- Dialogue options not showing up
- Saved games getting corrupted
- Compatibility issues with iOS 14 and newer
Requested features
4 requests- Improved graphics and visuals
- Better tutorial and onboarding
- More save points and checkpoints
- Ability to restore in-app purchases
Shakedown
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Bard's Tale
- Coin Clipping Kit$0.99
- Receive Inheritance$0.99
- Bard Training$0.99
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- Trow Map Collection$1.99
- Bard Intensive Training$1.99
- Discover Lost Silver Mine$2.99
- Talent Boot Camp$2.99
- Bard Epic Transformation Training$2.99
- Best Bow: Ddraig Goch$2.99
- Best Armor: Armor of Llyr$2.99
Shakedown
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Bard's Tale free?
Is Shakedown free?
Which has better reviews, The Bard's Tale or Shakedown?
Do The Bard's Tale or Shakedown have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Bard's Tale or Shakedown?
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