Blackbar

Published by: Mrgan
Downloads
Revenue

Description

"Blackbar is a brilliant game." —Ron Gilbert
"Its allegories are smart, and its approach to story-telling on touch-devices is just as well. 4.5/5" —TouchArcade
"Taut and intelligent. 8/10" —Eurogamer
"A political statement—a super fun one. I _______ love this _______ game." —Loren Brichter
"Awesome and totally unexpected." —Shaun Inman
Blackbar is a text game: a sci-fi story of a dystopian future told through the medium of word puzzles. Reminiscent of text adventures and interactive fiction, it has a unique mechanic centered around the concept of censorship. Censorship is frustrating, but the human spirit can beat that frustration by turning it into a game.
You'll pick up Blackbar instantly; however, its challenges will keep you searching, thinking, and trying for days.
"An ingenious puzzle game that critiques censorship" —Fast Company
"The humor is black, the puzzles go from simple to truly challenging, and the story is top-notch." —Gamemoir
"Playing Blackbar is Like High School English Class, And I Love It." —Kotaku
"Wonderfully written and does a fantastic job of pulling you into a not entirely unrealistic tale." —Gizmodo
"Well-written and entertaining, with just a touch of a deeper message to hit a few concepts home. Just plain awesome." —JayIsGames
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Blackbar FAQ

  • Is Blackbar free?

    Yes, Blackbar is completely free and it doesn't have any in-app purchases or subscriptions.

  • Is Blackbar legit?

    🤔 The Blackbar app's quality is mixed. Some users are satisfied, while others report issues. Consider reading individual reviews for more context.

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  • How much does Blackbar cost?

    Blackbar is free.

  • What is Blackbar revenue?

    To get estimated revenue of Blackbar app and other AppStore insights you can sign up to AppTail Mobile Analytics Platform.

User Rating
App is not rated in Vietnam yet.
Ratings History

Blackbar Reviews

Kinda good?

Chef_Dawn on

United States

I didn’t hate this game. But I didn’t really like it either. Pros: —I enjoyed stretching my brain a bit with the word play. There were two words that really stumped me. I admit I had to find a walk-through online to get past those levels. I appreciate that in a game. Cons: —It took me a little over two hours to complete it. If I’m paying to play, I expect some more playtime. —I can definitely understand how some could be confused at the start of the game. A brief explanation could help. Perhaps make it the start to the game, you could write vague instructions (not too vague), with blanks to make it part of the puzzle your starting. Would I recommend this game? Probably not. It’s a nice little game, but it just needs more.

Didn’t work

casf29 on

United States

I downloaded the app after paying but the app does not work on Iphone 13 pro. It just come a first screen and nothing else - no button with “next” Or anything to move from that screen. I shut down, closed all apps, open again and nothing.

Enjoyable puzzles, too short

wildchuk on

United States

My wife and I have both played Grayout, and now Blackbar. They were very enjoyable! I like how easy they were to pick up/put down. No menus, loading screens, time sensitive activities- it was as simple as checking your text messages, so I never felt tied to it. My suggestion would be making them longer, or possibly having them branch storylines in the style of a choose-your-own-adventure. That would allow for some replayability at least. Definitely worth your time and money, so pick it up if you haven’t!

How

Winter-Grace on

United States

How does it work? I filled in the black space and the screen just stays the same? No buttons to push? The screen doesn’t slide up down back or forth? How do you move past the first page?

Doesn’t work on iOS 14

planetmisty on

United States

I only get one page, the ability to type an answer and then nothing. That’s it. There is no enter key or ability to move forward to anything else. Crazy.

Excellent, but too short and a missed opportunity!

clcallag on

United States

This game was delightful, and I’m glad for every moment I spent with it. But I finished the whole thing in a night! The creators did just enough with the censorship mechanism to keep it interesting and I definitely wanted more—maybe some DLC? The one mechanism I’m sad wasn’t explored more was *SPOILER ALERT* the single puzzle that had TWO possible correct answers for progression. Granted, one led to an immediate game over, but finding other ways to implement this would’ve been amazing. Thanks for the great game, looking forward to trying Grayout!

Too short

chile_man on

United States

Interesting, but took me about two hours to complete. It needs to be longer and the story just seems to cut off, like it is unfinished.

Where's the rest?

Strangelander on

United States

Great game, excellent use of text, tricky puzzles. But given the themes and plot, and the price, it needs to be three times as long. I did not need a walkthrough, I played it over several days and used a bit of trial and error for a couple pages. BTW, there are two endings, sort of: a "black ending" and a "yellow ending." If you got the black ending, go back one page and try again.

Very interesting game!

anechoe on

United States

As other reviews mentioned, seems a tiny bit off on a few of the puzzles. The design itself is very ... if you don’t get it you’re just sort of flailing without recourse, and the back and forward buttons are super annoying to use to traverse prior puzzles. But I enjoyed it mostly. For $3? Yeah, get it. An interesting look at a different type of word/novel/puzzle game. :)

Neat idea, boring gameplay, lackluster story

Tom Hanks Is Bela Lugosi on

United States

The concept of the game is fun and original. The game itself is pretty dull. Not a lot of clever; not a lot of fun. The cute little twists all leave something to be desired, I think because the medium itself—like a worse kind of crossword—is sorely lacking. The plot, which is really the only thing worth keeping on for, isn't worth keeping on for at all; it's a heavy-handed, childish take on a dystopian government, the sort of thing a teen comes up with after reading 1984. The characters are shallow, the Evil Government is boring, and the one attempt at tugging your heartstrings manages to be simultaneously melodramatic and boring. This is not a good game, for all it was created by a great guy.

Store Rankings

Ranking History
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Blackbar Competitors

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Letterfall - Word Game
Just keep spelling!
Alpha Omega
Unqiue cwroossrd pzzlues
Playdate Sticker Pack
Word Wow - No Ad version
A workout for your brain!
Word Forward
Beautifully simple
Hexiled
Book Of Myths
Art game about myths

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App Info

Category
Games
Publisher
Mrgan
Languages
English, German
Recent release
1.2.2 (2 years ago )
Released on
Aug 22, 2013 (11 years ago )
Last Updated
3 days ago
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