Master of Magic Classic

About

Master of Magic Classic is a single player strategy game. It was developed by SimTex and was released on February 25, 2020. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

"Master of Magic Classic" is a turn-based strategy game that lets you lead a powerful sorcerer as they build their empire and master the arts of magic. Explore a procedurally generated world, research spells, summon mythical creatures, and conquer enemy civilizations through strategy and force. The game offers a deep and engaging experience, with a wide range of customization options to suit different playstyles.

Genres & Tags

Strategy

Play Modes

Single-Player

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97%

Audience ScoreBased on 992 reviews

graphics34 positive mentions

stability10 negative mentions

Master of Magic is a timeless classic that offers endless replayability with its deep strategy and variety of spells and races.
The Caster of Magic DLC enhances the game significantly, improving AI and balancing while retaining the charm of the original.
Despite its dated graphics, the game remains engaging and fun, appealing to both nostalgic players and newcomers to the genre.

The user interface and controls feel outdated and can be frustrating for new players, making it difficult to navigate and manage units.
The AI can be overly aggressive and unbalanced, often leading to frustrating gameplay experiences, especially on higher difficulty levels.
Some players may find the lack of modern features, such as a build queue and autosave, to be a significant drawback.

graphics
196 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
70%
13%
The graphics of this game are widely regarded as outdated, reflecting its 1994 origins with low resolution and a simplistic user interface that may deter younger players accustomed to modern visuals. While many acknowledge the graphics as poor by today's standards, they emphasize that the gameplay experience remains engaging and rewarding for those willing to overlook the aesthetic shortcomings. Overall, the consensus is that the game's depth and mechanics far outweigh its visual limitations, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of classic strategy games.
- “Once you get used to the low resolution, the graphics are refreshingly clear and descriptive.”
- “Despite the 30-year-old low-res graphics and dated UI, this iconic game is still a blast to play.”
- “The design is fun and enthralling, and the fact that it's 8-bit graphics doesn't detract from the way you interact with the game.”
- “Yes, the graphics are terrible by today's standards.”
- “The graphics are from the 90's - they suck.”
- “The graphics were not updated to modern standards and 16-bit graphics on a modern video card and monitor look horrific.”
gameplay
86 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
62%
5%
The gameplay of "Master of Magic" is praised for its depth and complexity, offering a rich blend of detailed spells and strategic turn-based combat that remains engaging even decades after its release. While the graphics and some mechanics may feel dated or clunky, the core gameplay experience is considered solid and enjoyable, with unique features that differentiate it from other 4X strategy games. Players appreciate the balance between challenge and accessibility, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of fantasy and empire-building games.
- “Master of Magic is the most enjoyable fantasy-empire-building game ever, with a great balance between detailed spells and units and not-too-complicated mechanics.”
- “Every gameplay feature is tightly designed; nothing is too simple or too complex.”
- “With reworked units, spells, some mechanics, and better AI than many 4X games, you have one, if not the best competitive single-player fantasy 4X experience.”
- “It's ugly, clunky, and loaded with obtuse mechanics, but it's a classic.”
- “Slitherine have done something that has been on every 90s TBS gamer's mind since all these unfortunate remake failures keep dropping with weird gameplay, balance-breaking changes, and lacking that 'next turn' quality - ported the original to Windows.”
- “As I've gotten older, I've burned out on some of the gameplay.”
replayability
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
67%
6%
The game boasts exceptional replayability, driven by its diverse combinations of races, spells, and procedurally generated maps, allowing for unique experiences in each playthrough. While some players may find imbalances frustrating, the deep customization and strategic depth keep them returning for more. Overall, it offers a nearly limitless replay value that has captivated players for years.
- “The limitless replayability makes me come back to this over and over again!”
- “Multiple magic paths, multiple races, and procedurally generated maps mean essentially infinite replayability.”
- “High replay value for the numerous combinations of spells, domains, opponents, and personal choices as you seek the spell of mastery.”
- “Be advised there are a lot of imbalances in the game between units/races which can frustrate some players, but there's a lot of variety of starting races and magic classes/spells to experiment with and offer that 'just one more click' replayability.”
- “This mod breathes so much replayability into what was, frankly, an unbalanced game.”
- “The strategic depth, the diversity of options, replayability, the challenge, the UI, the low number of known bugs, the many units and spells, the number of meaningful game options, the niche tactics that can be used, the lifelong learning opportunity to become a better player, the decades of software development that led to the current version by passionate dedicated programmers and fans not motivated by greed, the unknown but probabilistically predictable outcomes, diplomacy, moddability, attention to detail, the design at all levels, the fine-tuning, and many more features make this version a hard-to-match treasure for any wannabe game developer.”
music
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
58%
16%
The music in the game elicits mixed reactions, with some players feeling nostalgic about the orchestral menu themes, while others find it jarring and outdated, often opting to turn it off for a better experience. Despite its historical significance and the effort put into its composition by notable composers, many agree that the audio quality does not hold up to modern standards, leading to a preference for sound effects over the music. Overall, while the music may enhance the nostalgic value for some, it detracts from the enjoyment for others.
- “I get nostalgic just listening to the menu music.”
- “As with all of Simtex’s games, Master of Magic is beautifully presented, with bright, colorful and interesting character and creature design, a dynamic music system with some fantastic tunes, and high-quality animations for many of the player actions such as spell casting, diplomacy, and banishing rival wizards into the void.”
- “The music composers George Sanger and David Govett from MicroProse apparently loved the Gravis Ultrasound, which was the best sounding gaming soundcard at the time - in 1994 - they loved this famous soundcard so much that when they composed the music of Master of Magic, they especially refined and designed the composition for the latest patches of the Gravis Ultrasound!”
- “The music is jarring and horrible, and I generally don't mind the soundtracks of older games.”
- “The graphics are terrible and the music gets annoying pretty quickly (so I just turn it off), but the replay factor is quite high.”
- “Graphics and music are very old and do not match today’s mainstream.”
stability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
83%
The game's stability has improved significantly since its initial release, which was plagued by numerous bugs and crashes. While players enjoyed the experience despite the glitches, many feel it was rushed to market, leading to a less polished launch. Currently, it runs well on Windows 10, with fewer bugs reported in recent updates.
- “Now it runs great on Windows 10.”
- “Perhaps it's a well-designed game that was released too soon with too many bugs to attempt to meet quarterly earnings reports and ended up with a buggy, crashy mess.”
- “Does it ever end the glitches with Steam?”
- “Though very buggy in the beginning, it was a hell of a time.”
story
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The game offers players the opportunity to create their own narrative of epic empire building, providing hours of engaging gameplay, though it lacks a predefined story.
- “Hours of fun telling yourself a story of epic empire creation!”
- “No story.”
- “No story.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its humor, featuring a variety of funny and useful spells that enhance the overall experience. While its graphics may feel dated, the comedic elements contribute significantly to its charm and enjoyment.
- “Lots of funny and useful spells.”
- “Perhaps not a great appeal for its graphics (it's 30 years old), but a very nice and funny game!”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Players find that grinding in the game can be extremely time-consuming, often requiring significant effort and strategy to build powerful armies and conquer territories. The process of carefully managing resources and battles to create an overwhelming force is seen as essential, but it can feel like a daunting task that demands a considerable investment of time.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Every game I've played with at least death3 (darkness + ghouls), I overwhelm my immediate neighbor by picking fights carefully and creating a huge undead army, then assaulting their fortress with ��6 ghouls + ��3 injured spell/bolt fodder (or hero), kill all ranged, then finish them off with the free undead army I just got conquering their territory and farming their huge quantity of summons.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
Players emphasize the importance of researching and adjusting configuration files to achieve optimal performance tailored to their systems. Additionally, the AI is noted for its strong optimization, providing a challenging experience as it adapts effectively to player strategies.
- “The AI is pretty good, so you'll be constantly fighting an opponent optimized to challenge you.”
- “Do research on optimizing the configuration files for optimal performance on your respective system.”
- “The AI is pretty good, so you'll be constantly fighting an opponent optimized to go fight you.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game features a straightforward monetization model with no DLC or microtransactions, providing a complete experience without the unfinished feel often associated with modern strategy games.
- “There's no DLC, no microtransactions, none of the unfinished feeling present in every modern strategy game.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is polarizing; while some players have a deep affection for it, others find the experience frustrating and unenjoyable, suggesting that it may not resonate well with everyone.

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24h Median play time

24h Average play time

24-24h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Master of Magic Classic is a strategy game.

Master of Magic Classic is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 24 hours playing Master of Magic Classic.

Master of Magic Classic was released on February 25, 2020.

Master of Magic Classic was developed by SimTex.

Master of Magic Classic has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its graphics but disliked it for its stability.

Master of Magic Classic is a single player game.

Similar games include Rise of Nations, Master of Orion 2, Sid Meier's Civilization® III Complete, Age of Wonders, Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes and others.

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