The Magic Circle isn’t just a puzzle game, it’s also a commentary on games media in general. The plucky fan intern wants The Magic Circle to be high so she can brag about it on her streaming channel, and the former pro gamer turned game designer just wants out of this job. Hidden voice recordings can be found throughout the map to fill in gaps and answer questions. There are reasons Ish, the game designer, has taken so long to perfect his game. Sure there are objectives, but they’re optional. The game never actually tells you how to play but instead gives you the tools and asks you to figure it out. It all gets colored you just choose the colors. Obstacles are built around a general idea but solved in your own way, kind of like a coloring book. And since you have no weapons you need other creatures to do the fighting for you, like having a fireproof flying robot kill everything in your path. Well, you give turtles the power to float and jump on them. Maybe there is a large gap between you and a key that you need. Gameplay is unlike many other puzzle games where you steal the power of a game god–trap their creations, swap behaviors, and body parts, and make whatever kind of creature you’d like at that moment. It is a bit of a crutch, but that doesn’t take away from the core of the game. It’s a clever look that other games don’t have. The game is filled with broken or unfinished art and characters. Sabotaging development, turning people against one another, and ruining a press conference are all elements throughout the story that eventually builds to a significant change in game play. And after so long in development hell, the game has finally had enough of this. It goes through change after change, and he still can’t decide how he wants his masterpiece to reflect upon the world. You’re a play tester, playing the latest game from a world-renowned game developer who just can’t seem to get his newest would-be release right. Thankfully the map is full of voice recordings and secrets to paint a picture of what is exactly going on in this world. Given no real guidelines or rules but a varying array of abilities, you’re expected to figure it out and explore on your own. It all depends on your problem-solving ability. Mostly a first-person puzzle game, TMC can be completed in a matter of 30 minutes, or it could take you all week. The first few hours of The Magic Circle are an interesting and broad take on the development of games, or lack thereof.
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