Reviews of Colossal Cave 3D

By: Cygnus Entertainment, LLC App

List of user reviews and ratings for Colossal Cave 3D

Total ratings

4.20 (Rating count: 33)

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Review summary

Reviewers praise Colossal Cave 3D for its visuals, atmosphere, and exploration-focused puzzles, with a nostalgic retro vibe. The most common negatives are unwieldy controls/ UI on iOS, stability problems, and questions about pricing versus gameplay length. Despite the drawbacks, many users enjoy the mood and bite-sized play, suggesting improvements to controls and reliability would broaden appeal.

Pros

Stunning graphics and visuals with a polished visual style.
Immersive atmosphere and sound design that enhance exploration.
Old-school, non-linear puzzle adventuring with a nostalgic feel.
Playable in bite-sized chunks on the go.
Retro-adventure charm with strong presentation.

Cons

Awkward, restrictive controls and clunky UI on iOS, making movement and looking around feel slow or difficult.
Crashes and startup stability issues reported by multiple users.
Perceived poor value for money due to a short demo or limited early gameplay relative to the price.

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User Reviews

Recent rating average: 3.50

All time rating average: 4.20

Upgrade to see all 18 reviews

17% (3)

Date	Author	Comment
2025-11-02	Bo*****	This game COULD have been great but the controls are an absolute dumpster fire. You're supposed to walk about and explore, but you cant walk backwards... so anytime you get to a point where you cant move forward anymore you need to turn a full 360 degrees unless you wanna just sit there, stuck. God forbid you need to look at something from a different angle or simply move back a step or two. Its a truly maddening experience. In a 3D first person game this is simply unacceptable. The entire interface as a whole is a pain to use, and so is attempting to look up, down, left, right... ANY direction... ugh. Its just awful.
This game COULD have been great but the controls are an absolute dumpster fire. You're supposed to walk about and explore, but you cant walk backwards... so anytime you get to a point where you cant move forward anymore you need to turn a full 360 degrees unless you wanna just sit there, stuck. God forbid you need to look at something from a different angle or simply move back a step or two. Its a truly maddening experience. In a 3D first person game this is simply unacceptable. The entire interface as a whole is a pain to use, and so is attempting to look up, down, left, right... ANY direction... ugh. Its just awful.
2025-04-05	OL*****	Complete waste of money. Do not buy! Works horribly on an iPad.
Complete waste of money. Do not buy! Works horribly on an iPad.
2025-03-23	M2*****	Game loaded. Went through several “ please wait “ screens, then as I waited for game to start, the game went away. Twice. Removed game. I’m done
Game loaded. Went through several “ please wait “ screens, then as I waited for game to start, the game went away. Twice. Removed game. I’m done
2025-02-10	,\*****	Might be a great game who knows? For me it’s a hard pass when the devs want 10$ and the amount of gameplay offered in the demo takes me literally about a minute to finish. There was a nice “history of our game” to view and I’ll admit at first it seemed like it was going to be decent adventure game but then I realized it took more time to download the app than it was gonna take me to finish this supposed “demo”
Might be a great game who knows? For me it’s a hard pass when the devs want 10$ and the amount of gameplay offered in the demo takes me literally about a minute to finish. There was a nice “history of our game” to view and I’ll admit at first it seemed like it was going to be decent adventure game but then I realized it took more time to download the app than it was gonna take me to finish this supposed “demo”
2024-05-16	im*****	This game was amazing!! This genre of games are what a lot of people are looking for! It’s been the first of its kind for years!! I bought an iPad for specific games like this over 10 years ago, but slowly they just stopped making them. I have to admit, without the walkthrough I was clueless, as in playing a totally different game. I explored (which I love to do) the lower caves all the way up to a futuristic area, that seemed so different from the caves. But what do I know?!?! When using the walkthrough, the game was different from what I had been exploring and would have never come to the conclusion as to the real game. But it was fun just exploring!! What’s funny, is all the places I had been to, very few were part of the game! Was not crazy about it being a point system. The main concern I have is that you can die and have to start over, so save your game ….OFTEN!! I rate games, but never a review, so this tells other gamers, this game was a 10 out of 10 for me! Worth the price!! Please make more of these! Always looking for non linear, NO violence, (including dying) adventure/exploration games. Thank you developers!!
This game was amazing!! This genre of games are what a lot of people are looking for! It’s been the first of its kind for years!! I bought an iPad for specific games like this over 10 years ago, but slowly they just stopped making them. I have to admit, without the walkthrough I was clueless, as in playing a totally different game. I explored (which I love to do) the lower caves all the way up to a futuristic area, that seemed so different from the caves. But what do I know?!?! When using the walkthrough, the game was different from what I had been exploring and would have never come to the conclusion as to the real game. But it was fun just exploring!! What’s funny, is all the places I had been to, very few were part of the game! Was not crazy about it being a point system. The main concern I have is that you can die and have to start over, so save your game ….OFTEN!! I rate games, but never a review, so this tells other gamers, this game was a 10 out of 10 for me! Worth the price!! Please make more of these! Always looking for non linear, NO violence, (including dying) adventure/exploration games. Thank you developers!!
2024-02-27	Th*****	I started following this amazing couple for their exploits outside the gaming world and that led me to Ken’s revelation about Colossal Cave 2.0! I had played Advent back in the day on a PDP 8 and lost a ton of productivity the fall of ‘78 … and again on my Apple Lisa a few years later, so had to try this version. It does not disappoint!!!! Having achieved 350 all those years ago, it’s nice to just explore and enjoy all the nuisances in this iOS 2.0 version. The graphics are great and the sounds are even better! I have never been tempted to go down the VR journey …. but I will now (dang it, but 🎉 at the same time). Special shout out to Roberta for the video about the Crothers and the history of the game itself. I loved those details as much as I love the warmth of bunny slippers on a chilly nautical morning 😉 Thank you, thank you! Ten thumbs up from me 👍🏼
I started following this amazing couple for their exploits outside the gaming world and that led me to Ken’s revelation about Colossal Cave 2.0! I had played Advent back in the day on a PDP 8 and lost a ton of productivity the fall of ‘78 … and again on my Apple Lisa a few years later, so had to try this version. It does not disappoint!!!! Having achieved 350 all those years ago, it’s nice to just explore and enjoy all the nuisances in this iOS 2.0 version. The graphics are great and the sounds are even better! I have never been tempted to go down the VR journey …. but I will now (dang it, but 🎉 at the same time). Special shout out to Roberta for the video about the Crothers and the history of the game itself. I loved those details as much as I love the warmth of bunny slippers on a chilly nautical morning 😉 Thank you, thank you! Ten thumbs up from me 👍🏼
2023-12-06	Dy*****	Very fun to play a old school, slower paced game where I can ponder all day on how to solve the next Puzzle!
Very fun to play a old school, slower paced game where I can ponder all day on how to solve the next Puzzle!
2023-12-05	Ch*****	Love this game thus far can't wait to really get into it!! By far one of the best out right now for sure!!
Love this game thus far can't wait to really get into it!! By far one of the best out right now for sure!!
2023-12-04	Th*****	I absolutely love the feel of the game: Simple, pretty, a world that wants to be explored! Only issue I see is the controls dont feel great on iOS. Its a bit awkward at times, and I think could easily be updated. Games like Myst (Mobile I think) or XON, or even Nimian Legends have similar experience and I think a similar movement / look system could be implemented! Otherwise, I look forward to further exploring "The Cave"!
I absolutely love the feel of the game: Simple, pretty, a world that wants to be explored! Only issue I see is the controls dont feel great on iOS. Its a bit awkward at times, and I think could easily be updated. Games like Myst (Mobile I think) or XON, or even Nimian Legends have similar experience and I think a similar movement / look system could be implemented! Otherwise, I look forward to further exploring "The Cave"!
2023-12-04	Li*****	I love this game. Graphics are amazing
I love this game. Graphics are amazing