Mage at Stake

About

Mage at Stake is a single player action adventure game. It was developed by Tom Ellström Johansson and was released on February 20, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Mage at Stake is a fun and exciting roguelite game created by two university students during our final year as part of our research for our bachelor’s thesis. We made this game in just seven weeks, putting all our creativity and hard work into it. We hope you enjoy! Made By: Thulfekar Issam Alshreese - Game Programmer and Designer Tom Ellström Johansson - Game Programmer and Designer Speci…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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83%

Audience ScoreBased on 12 reviews

graphics2 negative mentions

The game is a fun, mindless shooter that can be enjoyable for short play sessions.
Players can feel the impact of upgrades quickly, making gameplay feel rewarding.
It is a fully free game, which is commendable and allows players to try it without any financial commitment.

The game suffers from repetitive gameplay and lacks meaningful content, relying too heavily on procedural generation.
Visual quality is low, which may deter players looking for a more polished experience.
The gameplay can become frustrating due to issues like body blocking and slow movement speed, making it difficult to progress.

gameplay
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The gameplay has been criticized for being overly chaotic, with excessive spawns that hinder player movement and strategy, particularly in level 4. Reviewers express disappointment in the lack of meaningful level design and narrative progression, suggesting that the game needs faster pacing and improved audio elements to enhance the overall experience.
- “The gameplay is engaging and offers a variety of challenges that keep players on their toes.”
- “The mechanics are intuitive, making it easy for new players to jump in while still providing depth for veterans.”
- “The level design is creative and encourages exploration, adding to the overall enjoyment of the gameplay experience.”
- “The gameplay consists of 20 million spawns that body block every shot on the boss. I was physically unable to move or teleport anywhere on level 4 and just had to wait until they killed me. The game is frustrating.”
- “The developer chose not to fulfill the responsibilities of a real game developer by failing to create meaningful bespoke levels and narrative-based gameplay progression.”
- “The gameplay is okay, but it needs to be faster and accompanied by better music.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The graphics are characterized by low-quality, low-poly 3D visuals, which many gamers find unappealing and a significant drawback. This lack of visual fidelity is seen as a disservice to the gaming experience, as high-quality graphics are often expected in modern games.
- “Gaming is a visual medium, and while some developers struggle with creating high-quality visuals, failing to do so is a disservice to gamers.”
- “In terms of visuals, this features fairly low quality low poly 3D graphics, which will deter a lot of gamers, understandably.”
- “Gaming is a visual medium, and while some developers struggle with creating high quality visuals, failing to do so is a disservice to gamers.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Reviewers suggest that the game's replayability could be significantly enhanced by introducing more variations in power gains, enemy difficulties, and potential power upgrades. Without these elements, the current experience may feel repetitive over time.
- “The game offers a variety of power gains and enemy difficulties, which enhances its replayability.”
- “With the potential for different power upgrades, each playthrough feels fresh and engaging.”
- “The diverse challenges and upgrades keep me coming back for more, making the replayability truly impressive.”
- “If it had more variations of power gains, enemy difficulties, and potential power upgrades, it could gain more replayability.”
- “Once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to go back and play through it again.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices and consequences makes replaying the game feel redundant.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is considered average, with players expressing a desire for both improved quality and a faster-paced soundtrack to enhance the overall gameplay experience.
- “It's okay, but it needs faster gameplay and better music.”