Pawnbarian

4.05
Healthy
Price: Free
Ads: Unknown
In App Purchases: Yes

iOS App Store

Temporal Dark PatternsTemporal Dark Patterns

This game has 0 reported Temporal Dark Patterns. There are 7 votes indicating the absence of a dark pattern.

5

1 votes
Playing by Appointment -
0 / 1 votes
Being forced to play according to the game's schedule instead of yours.

1 votes
Daily Rewards -
0 / 1 votes
Encourages return visits every day and punishes you for missing a day.

1 votes
Grinding -
0 / 1 votes
Being required to perform repetitive and tedious tasks to advance.

1 votes
Advertisements -
0 / 1 votes
Forced to watch ads or given rewards for watching ads.

1 votes
Infinite Treadmill -
0 / 1 votes
Impossible to win or complete the game.

1 votes
Can't Pause or Save -
0 / 1 votes
The game does not allow you to stop playing whenever you want.

1 votes
Wait To Play -
0 / 1 votes
In-game timers that make you arbitrarily wait for something.

Monetary Dark PatternsMonetary Dark Patterns

This game has 1 reported Monetary Dark Patterns. There are 10 votes indicating the absence of a dark pattern.

3.48

1 votes
Pay Wall -
1 / 0 votes
The game becomes impossible to continue playing without payment.

1 votes
Premium Currency -
0 / 1 votes
Exchange rate between real money and in-game currency disguises the real price of items.

1 votes
Pay to Win -
0 / 1 votes
A player can spend real money to purchase something that gives them an advantage in the game.

1 votes
Artificial Scarcity -
0 / 1 votes
Limited time offers with unnecessary urgency.

1 votes
Pay to Skip -
0 / 1 votes
Spend money to avoid waiting for a timer to expire.

1 votes
Accidental Purchases -
0 / 1 votes
Making it easy to accidentally spend money with no confirmation or ability to undo or refund the action.

1 votes
Recurring Fee -
0 / 1 votes
Encourages players to play as much as possible to get their money's worth.

1 votes
Gambling / Loot Boxes -
0 / 1 votes
Spending real money to play a game of chance for a reward.

1 votes
Power Creep -
0 / 1 votes
A permanently purchased item in the game becomes less valuable over time.

1 votes
Waste Aversion -
0 / 1 votes
Capped inventory forces you to destroy items or upgrade inventory. Also, having small amounts of left over premium currency.

1 votes
Anchoring Tricks -
0 / 1 votes
Placing a cheap item next to an expensive item to make it look more affordable.

Social Dark PatternsSocial Dark Patterns

This game has 0 reported Social Dark Patterns. There are 7 votes indicating the absence of a dark pattern.

5

1 votes
Social Pyramid Scheme -
0 / 1 votes
You get a bonus for inviting your friends and then they have to invite their friends.

1 votes
Social Obligation / Guilds -
0 / 1 votes
To avoid letting down your friends, you are obligated to play when you don't want to.

1 votes
Friend Spam / Impersonation -
0 / 1 votes
The game sends spam to your contact list or social media account.

1 votes
Reciprocity -
0 / 1 votes
Feeling obligated to return a favor, share resources, trade an item, etc.

1 votes
Encourages Anti-Social Behavior -
0 / 1 votes
The game incentivizes players to lie, cheat, or backstab other players to get ahead.

1 votes
Fear of Missing Out -
0 / 1 votes
If you stop playing you'll miss out on something or be left behind and unable to catch up.

1 votes
Competition -
0 / 1 votes
The game makes you compete against other players.

Psychological Dark PatternsPsychological Dark Patterns

This game has 0 reported Psychological Dark Patterns. There are 7 votes indicating the absence of a dark pattern.

5

1 votes
Invested / Endowed Value -
0 / 1 votes
Having already spent time and money to improve your status in the game, it's difficult to throw it away.

1 votes
Badges / Endowed Progress -
0 / 1 votes
Reluctancy to abandon a partially completed goal, even one forced upon the player.

1 votes
Complete the Collection -
0 / 1 votes
The urge to collect all the items, achievements or secrets in a game.

1 votes
Illusion of Control -
0 / 1 votes
The game cheats or hides information to make you think you're better than you actually are.

1 votes
Variable Rewards -
0 / 1 votes
Unpredictable or random rewards are more addictive than a predictable schedule.

1 votes
Aesthetic Manipulations -
0 / 1 votes
Trick questions or toying with emotions or our subconscious desires.

1 votes
Optimism and Frequency Biases -
0 / 1 votes
Overestimating the frequency of something because we’ve seen it recently or memorably.

App Store Ratings

iOS:  (4.33) with 110 votes.



Recent Dark Pattern Reviews

Pay Wall reported on Jun 24, 2023
The game only allows you to play as the first class in the first dungeon. To access the full game, the developer requests a one time payment of $8, which is very reasonable for an solo-dev indie game.


Report a Dark Pattern

Screenshot Chess-inspired puzzle roguelike. Demo - single IAP unlocks full game.

The demo is ad-free. It contains a single character and dungeon.

Pawnbarian is a turn-based puzzle roguelike with bite-sized, but challenging sessions. Play cards to control your hero like a chess piece on a tiny dungeon board, outmaneuver enemies with their assortment of tricky abilities, and become the mightiest warrior of the Chesslands!

Features
- Use a deck of chess pieces to hack and slash through hordes of monsters.
- Pick up the basics instantly if you're familiar with chess, or learn in minutes if you aren't.
- Carefully plan your moves to navigate challenging, emergent tactical situations.
- Spend treasure to upgrade your cards with additional powers.
- Blitz through quick 15-30 minute runs - or die trying.
- Take on the infinite post-run Gauntlet to see how long you can survive.
- Pick from 6 characters to conquer 3 dungeons, all requiring an unique approach.
- Progress through Chains, a series of extra difficulty modifiers.

Not Features
- No permanent upgrades, and not much that needs unlocking. The progress and satisfaction come from your growing mastery of the game's elegant systems!
- No complex and varied builds. The shops provide a few key decisions, but the bulk of the roguelike depth lies in how you approach the emergent combat puzzles!