Much can be said about game developers these days. Some gamers wait years for titles they’ve been shown at gaming expos, and then, just when you think it’s about to be released, they throw you under the bus and delay for years. The Magic Circle is a social commentary on this industry, trying to discuss the issues that we as gamers have to go through when it comes to waiting for that awesome title.
First off, the game introduces you to Ismael—aka Starfather—and Maze, the two main developers of the game. The title called ‘The Magic Circle’ has suffered years of delays and the game conveys this with the world that is severely broken, and patches of previous work mixed in with the new vision. They recruit you as a play tester in their new world, having you perform simple tasks so they can discuss what needs to change and the like. However, a sentient being inside the game starts discussing the game and its rather difficult development and ends up recruiting you to join his mission to try and ‘break’ the game.
The first section of the game is quite short, and it would seem that they wanted to trick you into thinking that the short vertical slice was the entire title. So then on the main screen, it offers you the ‘Pro Mode’, which takes you behind the scenes. Maze, one of the developers also notices you running around in this world, and decides to work with you since an upstart groupie joined the team, and started sabotaging the game from within. Maze lost her brand thanks to the mole, and so decided it’s best to look the other way when you attack Starfather and Coda.
The main premise of the game is to give you a glimpse into the mindset of developers, some of whom work on games for decades with no interest in what the fans of that series want or need from them. The developer cooks up a scam, where he will show a vertical slice of the game (which isn’t anything close to what it actually looks like), and have Maze play it in front of the entire gaming community, so they can get them to fund the game via crowdfunding. So, you break into the demo and alter it to ruin the careers of these scam artists.
At the E3 show, gamers demand that the game is released as an open source project so they can finish it instead after seeing a flying baby with an ax—thanks to me—the main protagonist. And so, you head off along with the sentient game, to build a true representation of what ‘The Magic Circle’ should have been. The game building part was quite enjoyable, giving you free reign over what should happen in the game, and it even gives you music options.
As for the gameplay aspect, it’s extremely nuanced. The controls are quite difficult, especially on console. The game expects you to roam the world, take control of creatures, and mix and match their capabilities until you can get to Starfather who is just out of reach. In my experience, it didn’t make clear enough where you had to go and what to do, and it left me for the majority of the time quite confused by the strange mechanics. It gives you ‘life’ through cracks in the walls, and this is used to revive yourself, your allies and other creatures, but more often than not I found that a massive crack would be disabled even if there was life available moments prior.
It also lets you listen to the gloating of the developer about his unfinished game. It’s quite annoying, as most of the time it’s all you hear. And the music in the game can be quite annoying and repetitive. Graphics, on the other hand, were understandably lackluster, however extremely jarring. I would have opted to have it use low-resolution textures instead of ‘hand drawn’ ones that are just basically black scribbles against a white backdrop.
I would recommend this game when it’s on discount, it’s an experience we all should have, but don’t expect to be blown away by it. It’s like many of the episodic games you get these days, and just as hard to swallow. It has its moments—flying ax murderer babies and all—and will give everything something to think about.
Summary
The Magic Circle tries to discuss the game development industry with commentary about how they usually mislead consumers and then pretend they’re masters of the universe while not delivering on promises. It shows the community rise up and take control, and relegates the original developer to tears on the E3 stage. From the gameplay standpoint, it needs a lot of work. The game was most enjoyable right after you finished the main mission, and where you had to ‘build the world’ yourself.
As for the story, it’s original in its execution but lacks so many nuances that would have made it enjoyable to listen to. The voice actors can become tedious and sometimes I felt like just quitting. The game is strewn with ‘treasure’ that is basically memoirs of the developers, and it’s exactly as exciting as that sounds. The puzzle solving isn’t the best I’ve seen, but it offers a decent enough experience.
The Magic Circle could have been a lot better, but just like the sentient game told me, my game—the version I had to build inside the game—would have been a solid seven.
Dreyer was a regular ICXM contributor between 2016–2017, publishing 139 articles across opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative. They post on X as @dreyer_smit.