Card of Darkness
By Chris Morris,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Fun card game starts to become bland over time.
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Card of Darkness
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What’s It About?
In CARD OF DARKNESS, players attempt to cross bridges and clear dungeons by tapping on exposed decks of cards. Once you've drawn one card from a pile, you must draw all of them before you are allowed to exit. Some cards grant you extra health. Some give you gold. Some give you weapons. And many have enemies with numbers under them, the number of hit points you'll lose if you go against them unarmed. Weapons, too, have numbers, which deduct from the damage enemies cause. But if you use a weapon with an odd number against an enemy with an even number of hit points, the weapon will shatter.
Is It Any Good?
Card battle games can be by the number affairs, sometimes losing your interest fast due to a lack of variety. Card of Darkness, thankfully, bypasses that fate, though you might find yourself drifting off to explore other games in Apple Arcade after a few days. It's a good game, but not a great one. The animation is charming. It doesn't take itself too seriously. And it benefits tremendously from the Apple Arcade model, bypassing ads and in-app purchases.
After a few hours, though, the game gets a bit repetitive. The challenge is still there, but it doesn't evolve and puts player interest at risk. Those first few hours, though, are a lot of fun. The strategy involved in picking the right card keeps you focused and the game's light-hearted atmosphere doesn't drain you. It's also keeps you on your toes to make sure that you're swapping weapons in battle so that you're not breaking them during fights. Card of Darkness is a good onramp to what Apple is offering, but there are much deeper choices you can explore.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about perseverance. What does Card of Darkness teach about fighting against seemingly impossible tasks?
What's the best path to take to get to the end of each level in Card of Darkness? Are there ways to develop strategies for each stage, and can you use these tactics in real life?
Game Details
- Platform: Apple Arcade
- Pricing structure: Paid (Part of the Apple Arcade subscription)
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Zach Gage
- Release date: September 23, 2019
- Genre: Puzzle
- Topics: Adventures , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- ESRB rating: NR for No Descriptions
- Last updated: September 25, 2019
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