Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter vs Creature Journal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
Automate scoring for the board game Forest Shuffle™ by scanning your cards. This app handles multiple scans, allows for editing, and supports cross-device QR code sharing. It also includes a card glossary and saves past game sessions.
- Scan trees through the camera
- Automatic score counting
- Merge scans from multiple devices
- Archive previous sessions
- Card glossary access
- Cross-device QR code sharing
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This app allows you to speed up the scoring process of the printed version of the game Forest Shuffle™. By scanning the cards on your table after a just finished game you can automate the scoring of your laid out cards. The App can handle up to 5 scan results per scoring process. The scanning process is comfortable and you can also fastly edit your scan results. It is possible to exchange the scan results by QR Code between your devises. Sessions can be stored and edited. There is also a complete glossary of cards available. As this app is free you definitely need to give it a try... you will be surprised how easy the scoring can get. Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter Features: - Scan trees through the camera - Count your score automatically - Merge scans from multiple devices - Share your results to social media - Archive your previous sessions - Quick access to the appendix - English, German, French and Italian interface - Scan is language independent - Supports exclusively the version Forest Shuffle™ - Supports all Forest Shuffle™ expansions/promos
Creature Journal
Scan NFC cards to collect unique creatures, uncover their lore, and reveal hidden secrets. This app is designed for all ages and is perfect for events.
- Scan NFC cards
- Collect unique creatures
- Discover creature lore
- Unlock hidden secrets
- Event-specific content
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Find and scan our NFC cards to collect unique creatures, discover their lore, and unlock hidden secrets. Perfect for all ages! Made for events such as chaos communication congress (c3) in Hamburg. Collect more Creatures at future Events and Chaos Events. (This app was previously called Mystery Journal)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Creature Journal at every 4 days against Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter's every 10 days. Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter ships an update every 10 days, Creature Journal every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter | Creature Journal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (61 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 61 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 445 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | DIGIDICED | TOBIAS ZINKE |
Customer experience
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
Creature Journal
Bugs and requests
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
Reported bugs
17 issues- Cannot scan trees with more than 4 cards
- QR code player scanning not working
- Does not recognize cards 95% of the time
- Does not consider multiple cards on the same side of a tree
- Steinmarder (stone marten) scoring incorrect
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- Siebenschläfer (dormouse) text/scoring incorrect
- Silver Fir tagged Peacock butterfly not selectable
- Deer scoring messed up
- Holzbiene (wood bee) not recognized/implemented
- Zitronenfalter (common brimstone butterfly) missing
- Kröten (toads) and Rehe (deer) cannot be entered for multiple spots
- App not in French as advertised
- Scan function not working for some users
- App takes longer than manual scoring for some
- Does not correctly capture all card constellations
- Ignores lower cards
- Does not count cards from the cave
Requested features
9 requests- Add support for Dartmoor expansion
- Add support for Mischwald Dartmoor
- Add support for Exploration expansion
- Add support for new caves
- Automatic photo capture
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Add automa mode for solo play
- Add summary of points breakdown
- Add French language support
- Add support for more languages
Creature Journal
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter
No in-app purchases
Creature Journal
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter free?
Is Creature Journal free?
Do Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter or Creature Journal have ads?
Which is updated more often, Forest Shuffle™ Smart Counter or Creature Journal?
Other comparisons
