Disappointing – The Steampunk Tarot: Wisdom from the Gods of the Machine Review

Pros: Pretty artwork. Cons: Everything else. Seriously, this is fairly useless as a tarot app. The cards cannot be studied to become familiar with them in any order or by suit, although the names are changed for the majors as are the suits for the minors. Browsing the cards is only possible with a shuffled deck. If you do a reading, you have to use spreads peculiar to the app with silly names like "control panel" or "steam goggles." None of this would be too bad if the references to the spreads or suits were a tap away, but they are not. Cards have their 'steampunk' meanings and names at hand, which is something, but that is it. References are away down a menu tree that can't be accessed without leaving the spread. If you guess that you should just read the manuals first, guess again. There are no pictures in the references, so there is no chance to make visual or intuitive connections between the card faces and the reference material. Also, the writing is more juvenile than fun, like a comic book or video game guide that is taking itself too seriously. Simple attention to usability from the viewpoint of a user could fix this app. For now, it's flash over form and form over substance. Too bad, really. The artwork really is very well done. For that, and the somewhat useful steampunk card explanations on the backs of the cards, I rate this two stars.
Review by Random-Encounter on The Steampunk Tarot: Wisdom from the Gods of the Machine.