The Magic Circle
8.1
Platforms
- PCJul 9, 20158.1playscore7.97 Critics9.0891 Players
15 critic reviews · 0 community reviews across all platforms
Critic Reviews
- The essence of The Magic Circle is somewhere in between. As a piece of work meant to comment on modern game design, it’s wholly successful at creating a scenario perfectly illustrating just how Herculean a task it is for developers trying to create a game with a perfect balance.
Justin Clark · May 11, 2016 Reviewed on PS4Read full review - Everything from the concept to the way The Magic Circle tackles puzzle solving is unique. Question has pulled off quite the feat in making a game that is inspirational on several levels, one that rewards, and fosters, creativity. This is an adventure that needs to be played.
Tyler Treese · May 05, 2016 Reviewed on PS4Read full review - The story told here forces you to get a little introspective, especially if you’ve ever backed a game and then felt betrayed by the developer when their finished product is nothing like what you expected. This is also a game for anyone who thought they could’ve made a better Duke Nukem Forever (hint: that was a train wreck from the first delay). But with such a short, occasionally preachy story, this doesn’t appeal to everyone.
Paulmichael Contreras · Apr 29, 2016 Reviewed on PS4Read full review - The message is a little muddled, with so many accusing fingers thrust in so many directions that I'm sure different people will come to radically different conclusions of what it all means. But it's a message worth hearing, and a world worth exploring, if you care about video games and the people that make them.
Nic Rowen · Jul 20, 2015 Reviewed on PCRead full review - A memorable trip into game design and development hell, The Magic Circle's only sin is that there isn't more of it to play around in. What is here is storytelling and gameplay intermingled with expert care, bringing the player on an intellectual thrill ride that should be seen by all.
Alex Santa Maria · Jul 15, 2015 Reviewed on PCRead full review - Criticisms aside, I still lost several hours to The Magic Circle, looking up to notice it was well past dinnertime. And that's counting the endgame sections which felt out of place with everything that came before. Players looking for something more casual to pass the time may not be the mood to stretch their creative muscles, but The Magic Circle is one of the most wonderfully unique games we've seen this year.
Marshall Lemon · Jul 14, 2015 Reviewed on PCRead full review - You can expect between 4-6 hours of play, and after completing the story there's a relatively enjoyable minigame that becomes available. You can also continue exploring to find secret areas, audio logs, and anything else you might have missed. Despite its issues, The Magic Circle’s concepts are both clever and put to good use, and editing monsters to solve puzzles is enjoyable throughout.
Christopher Livingston · Jul 10, 2015 Reviewed on PCRead full review - There is a lot to like about The Magic Circle: Gold Edition. This is a really original story, and a clever way to tell it. It might be a short experience, but there is a lot of charm packed into this tiny little package. Additionally, the basics of the gameplay here are quite clever, and it ties back into the story almost perfectly. It is in the execution, though, that things fall apart, and this is one of those games that is a far better experience than it is a game.
Nikola Suprak · Apr 17, 2017 Reviewed on XB1Read full review - The Magic Circle tries to do the opposite, and while it manages to genuinely say something about our media, the fact that it’s aimed at its consumers makes it unable to shake off its apologetic message. In an industry confused by trends and numbers, and where decisions are taken by out-of-touch people, The Magic Circle gives us a bit of insight into this mess. “I’m sorry for the fuck-ups; we tried, but it wasn’t our fault”.
Borja Vilar Martos · Jun 28, 2016 Reviewed on PCRead full review - The Magic Circle is both a pleasant change of pace and a strangely profound gaming experience. It's special for many reasons, but perhaps the most impressive thing is the way it successfully and sophisticatedly engages in a larger debate about creative design. There's almost a self-examining academic quality to it, which certainly is cause for optimism that in the future games can be taken more seriously, and continue to set their own standards for creative measure. If you're feeling somewhat poisoned by all the annual generic money-churning franchises out there, here's the antidote.
Tomas Barry · May 29, 2016 Reviewed on PS4Read full review
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About the game
Trailers & Screenshots:
You are the protagonist of an unfinished 1st person fantasy game, trapped in development hell. The designers (played by James Urbaniak, Ashly Burch, and Karen Dyer) are god-like, but so indecisive that they've given you no powers whatsoever. With the help of a mysterious disembodied voice (Stephen Russell) you must seize the tools of game development from these unworthy 'gods', uncovering more of the darkly comic story as you go. Rather than traditional puzzles with a single solution, the incomplete state of each environment is a question that you answer in your own way. Trap the designers' creations, steal their behaviors, and re-mix them to explore and master this world-in-progress.
Developer: Question Games