Mind Over Magic

After many hours, during which I was patiently hoping for the game to get better, or to achieve some kind of flow, I sadly have to change my review from cautiously good to disappointed. This game doesn't get better the more you figure it out. It gets worse. I'm sad to say that. The game shows so much potential in so many aspects in the beginning. In the end though, it continously frustrates and disappoints. "Complexity for complexity's sake" seems to be the main offender. It gets more complicated the longer you play while never reaching the depths other games in this genre - mainly ONI - do. More importantly, you can't trust this game. Too many design choices are just mind-boggingly bad. After well over 100 hours into the game, I'm giving up. Some examples: Scheduling, a very important part of the game if you want to keep your mages happy, is an overcomplicated mess. You're constantly re-designing, renewing and deleting schedules while totally losing oversight. Not a very fun task if you ask me. Research sequences don't seem to be in the right order. There's too much you simply can't do at first because of research barriers, and while I get the reasoning behind that, it rarely feels organic or earned when you finally get there. If you haven't researched certain higher tiers and try to nurse your dragon to adulthood, you'll get severly punished for the rest of the game without a chance to reverse your mistakes (not entirely sure about that, actually. But I don't trust the game anymore). The priority system needs constant work. New trials for the initiates need constant work while often being repetitive. And so on. You won't get better or develop some sense of achievement the longer you play. You just get more of everything, with challenges that never really change. More toons, more problems, more resources, more schedules, more rooms. And, everything demands your attention constantly, or else. In ONI, you figure out some systems or rules that seem to work, and are actually allowed to let them simmer for a bit while facing new challenges. This is not possible in MoM. Found a good schedule for your initiates? Here, have a problem that makes everything obsolete. Built some rooms and figured out a good layout for your school? Yeah, you'll need to tear it all down some hours later because it just doesn't fit in with the new rooms you'll be able to build now. It really gets tiresome at some point. I don't even want to see the endgame anymore. It really has become too much of a drag.

Really enjoyed this game, played on normal difficulty and didn't find it hard. You really need to like micromanaging if you want to get into Mind over Magic. Not only all the characters, but also the resources and different rooms of the school you build must be planned ahead and changed to succeed. The classes and races felt diverse enough to make certain choices of whom to send to battle and what other roles they play necessary. Relics can be used to enhance specific characters or use as a school wide buff. The art is great and the AI of all characters felt good enough. The game could use some more QoL changes, especially regarding relics equipment and trials tracking. Overall can recommend this game!

整體是不錯的，不同元素搭配，然後培育學生畢業當上教授再參加戰鬥這方面最吸引。 但是最難受的是建房間部分。因為是一層一層蓋上去的，要升級某個房間或是作出改動就會變得困難，因為會受到限制，令遊玩樂趣大大減低！

I wish there was a better way to automate some of the student progression: summoning and upgrading wands. I think it would be very nice to sit back and watch a fully built school operate itself for a bit before moving on and starting a new save file. But other than that I think the game is fantastic. Are there things to be improved, of course. But there isnt a game (that I know of) that lets you build a wizard school as fun as this one

Kind of a boring game. The only interesting thing is that it's about a wizard, I guess.

afk simulator

abandoned for Klei's other games...interestingly, I only like this one, the others are kinda boring.