Mage Mania

Fun game, definitely recommend launching the game with headphones, the sound track sounds 10x better that way :)

This game has been added to our common playlist, a list we reserve for game we enjoy and know we will play again and often. The combat is fun, the spells are interesting and the game just works well. You can see our gameplay here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8GyU81n_-k

[h1]Overview:[/h1] '[i]Mage Mania[/i]' is a top down PVP game where players must use magic by combining different elements together to defeat their opponents. With zero plot and up to 4 players in local co-op, '[i]Mage Mania[/i]' would seem like a fun game to play assuming you've gathered enough friends together to do so but unfortunately is not as fun as it may seem at first. The idea of running around a map throwing magic at your friends in hopes that the next move will kill them seems like tons of fun but there are a few underlying issues that the game has that honestly surprised me and I'll break each of them down. [h1]Gameplay:[/h1] '[i]Mage Mania[/i]' throws 2-4 players into randomly generated maps all to which are uninteresting the say the least and the fight begins. Players must move about the map dishing out attacks while also avoiding incoming ones in addition to keeping an eye on their mana as to ensure they will always have enough magic points to continue performing attacks. Mana comes in the form of food that randomly spawns around the map in plentiful quantities ensuring the fight will always be lively. The combat aspect is actually really interesting. You basically press a combination of two keys to perform an attack and depending on which keys you pressed and the element that corresponds to it, a different attack could come out. After a few hours of playing, I still haven't been able to remember all the attacks and that's because I simply can't be bothered. Now, the game is clearly meant for multiple people to play, there are no bots or computer AI you can pin yourself up against, it's only designed for couch co-op play. I [i]did[/i] attempt to play with a friend which was a bit fun but not before running into a huge issue that I'll get to later. Overall, '[i]Mage Mania[/i]' I honestly could see being fun, but the game as a whole still needs a lot of work for it to be fully functional. The core gameplay requires an extra step not mentioned on the store page and honestly shouldn't be needed unless you're playing with 2 or 3 other friends. [h1]Controls:[/h1] Now this is where the biggest issue lies, the controls. Here's the thing, you need at least one other person to play with you right? Now imagine my disbelief when I found out you can't play with another person on the same keyboard like you can almost every other shared screen multiplayer game. You know why? Because the second player has no means of attack. That's right, they can move around with [b]both[/b] the numpad and arrow keys, but attacking? Nonexistent which basically means player one can't lose. Well that's one way to ♥♥♥♥ on your friends face but to make it even worse, now your weaponless buddy has to go find a damn controller and plug it in just so they can fight back. There also isn't a way to rebind controls, that also doesn't help. [h1]Graphics:[/h1] Actually pretty nice and is one of the redeeming factors of '[i]Mage Mania[/i]'. I absolutely love the lighting and glow effects of the game as it gives the world a sense of ambience and depth that many pixelated games fail to do. The magic effects are also nice and the overall game has a nice colorful and vibrant look with colors that are appealing to the eye. [h1]Audio:[/h1] Also not bad with decent music and sound effects that don't try to stand out. One odd issue I ran into though was when I first launched '[i]Mage Mania[/i]', the game absolutely obliterated my sound system and made it so loud and chop full of audio feedback that it almost sounded like it was about to blow out my speakers. I frantically closed the game fearing that my speakers were broken but thankfully my volume returned to normal and after a quick restart of the game, the audio was fixed. I have never and I mean [b]never[/b] run into an issue like this with any of the games I've played before and still am not sure what caused it to conk out like that, I'm just happy that it didn't continue happening. [h1]Multiplayer:[/h1] As mentioned, playing this game normally [b]requires[/b] at least one controller (up to 3 if playing with 4 people) which should be enough for anyone without one to skip. The fact that playing with even just one other person still requires a controller is ridiculous. Luckily for me, my friend is an avid console gamer and had controllers galore to use for '[i]Mage Mania[/i]' so I was able to at least experience the game properly. The game is definitely chaotic especially when neither party knows how to play the game but that actually made the game fun. I actually do think the game is okay but the lack of control optimization is the main reason why I can't see this game in a good light because the simple absence of it literally makes the game unplayable. That and I think it's safe to say not all gamers have a controller readily available for situations like this. The fact that the game requires an extra controller (which isn't cheap) just to play normally is a serious strike against it. [h1]Conclusion/TL;DR:[/h1] '[i]Mage Mania[/i]' is a top down couch co-op PVP game where players have to defeat one another with magic by using a combination of elements to perform different attacks. It looks fun at first until you realize the games main setback: a peripheral controller being a requirement just to be able to play the game like normal. Single keyboard play between two people is not possible so not unless you have an extra controller laying around and know how to connect it to your computer, then just being able to make the game playable becomes a chore. The game itself is fun but when you need a controller just to play against one other person, then that can become a deal breaker.