Do you remember when you were younger? Maybe a moment in your life that you’d like to live again. Or maybe something bad happened to you that you don’t like to remember, but at the same time, you know it taught you a valuable life lesson. That’s what you end up thinking after you play Where Cards Fall, a beautiful game about life.
Where Cards Fall is a Puzzle game developed by The Game Band and published by Snowman. You play as a young man as he goes back and remembers past moments from his life. To do that, you’ll need to solve puzzles with the help of cards.
Every time you beat a puzzle, you’ll see a little cutscene about an event in the young man’s life. You’ll see his life from his teenage years to his adulthood, with a lot of good, bad and uncomfortable moments, friendship, and even love. Just like any other person’s life.
And just like every other person’s life, it’s boring. You won’t get a crazy story with cliffhangers or amazing plot twists. Instead, you’ll see someone struggling to make friends, get good grades, and get a job.
Some people might be disappointed by this game’s story, and I get it. I was disappointed too. I was expecting a murder or something to happen (I think I’ve been playing too much Jenny LeClue). That is until I saw it from a different perspective. The Game Band is trying to remind us what we’ve all been through.
The story is meant for you to look at your own life and remember the good and the bad moments in it. And to appreciate them because they led you to where you are now. You lost friends along the way and made new ones as well. You failed and succeeded many times, and you’ll keep doing it. It’s all part of life, and we all experience this, even if it’s different from person to person.
That being said, it’s still boring if you don’t give it that much thought. So, if you’re looking for a crazy, over the top story, this game might not be for you.
Where Cards Fall is a beautiful game. Each puzzle takes place in a dreamlike stage filled with details and colors. You’ll keep looking at your surroundings to see the different objects and people that appear on every level. Many of these objects don’t do much, but some will tell more about the story that you won’t see in the cutscenes. Despite this, the game has a slight problem with perspective. Being a 3D game with a fixed camera, you’ll sometimes fail to see what to do because of the position of the cards or the buildings.
The music is a big factor in this game as well. It’s meant to relax the player with calm, soft sounds. If you want to have a relaxing gaming session and immerse in the game completely, you should try Where Cards Fall with your headphones.
Something that’s not that relaxing is its gameplay. To solve the puzzles you get to control two things: the boy and the cards. To move the cards you need to drag them across the screen and place them where you need them. You can make a house of cards by spreading them with two fingers. Depending on the space you have available, you can make the houses bigger.
Regarding the boy, he’s not so fun to use. You move him by tapping where you want him to go. It’s simple, but it takes so much time for him to move. And sometimes, while you’re moving the cards, you might tap on the screen, causing the boy to move to another side and ruining your progress.
Overall, the controls, while not the best, they’re not awful. But it would have been nice to have something like an undo button for certain situations.
The puzzles are simple at first, but they do get more complicated as you progress through the game. You’ll have to be patient and try different positions and house sizes, and even interact with things like wind or clouds to solve the puzzles. However, they are solvable and rewarding when you beat them.
Where Cards Fall is a relaxing, beautiful game meant for you to relax and enjoy while thinking about your own life and gaming as a whole in a new perspective. Not everything has to be explosions and cliffhangers. Sometimes you could use a little time to relax. If you don’t care about the story, it’s still a fun and challenging puzzle game with over 50 levels for you to solve. But if you’re looking for a story-driven game, filled with fiction and mystery, you’ll have to keep looking.
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NOTE: Where Cards Fall is available on mobile exclusively as part of Apple Arcade, a premium gaming subscription service from Apple. Without being a subscriber to Apple Arcade you cannot download and play this game. Apple Arcade is $4.99 per month and does come with a free one month trial, you can learn more about it on Apple’s official website or by visiting our dedicated Apple Arcade forum.
