Games with good magic system - an IFDB Poll

by RedHatter
RSS Feed

I'm looking for some games with a good magic system. Doesn't have to be at brilliant as Savoir-Faire but consistency would be nice.

View Comments (1) - Add a comment


Suveh Nux, by David Fisher
8 votes
"Simple and elegant" [+]"Simple and elegant: Figuring out how the system worked and how I could use it was extremely satisfying. My only complaint is that once I knew which spell(s) I needed for a puzzle, executing my plan could be quite slow and fiddly." () --Emily Boegheim... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --smurfas666... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Emily Short... "Not only a very..." [+]"Not only a very good magic system, but a system which IS the game." () --Fredrik... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --trojo... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Jim Kaplan... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Felix Pleșoianu...

Vote for this game

Savoir-Faire, by Emily Short
6 votes
"Not sure ..." [+]"Not sure ...: if I should vote for this game since the poll description already mentions it as exemplary (which it is), but OTOH if Savoir-Faire doesn't rank highly in a poll with this poll's title, something has gone very wrong." () --Ghalev... "A magic system that manages to appear like it's got a life of its own, beyond the author. " [+]"A magic system that manages to appear like it's got a life of its own, beyond the author. " () --calindreams... (No comment) [+](No comment) --JDC... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Guinnea... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Jim Kaplan... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol...

Vote for this game

A Colder Light, by Jon Ingold
5 votes
"Combinatorial rune magic" [+]"Combinatorial rune magic: Magic works by summoning various entities, using combinations of runes. This requires the player to reason about which entities would be useful and also about what runes might be appropriate for calling on them -- a neat kind of double puzzle." --Emily Short... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --danyadsmith... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Meredith... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Kinetic Mouse Car...

Vote for this game

Metamorphoses, by Emily Short
5 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --baywoof... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Squidi... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Jim Kaplan... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --IFforL2...

Vote for this game

Enchanter, by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling
5 votes
"A..." [+]"A spellbook-and-memorization system like old school D&D is your primary means of solving this game's puzzles." () --trojo... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Ghalev... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Fredrik... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Jim Kaplan... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk...

Vote for this game

Augmented Fourth, by Brian Uri!
3 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) --Meredith... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Pinstripe... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol...

Vote for this game

Balances, by Graham Nelson
3 votes
"Takes the spell..." [+]"Takes the spell system from the Enchanter series and adds some additional complexity, with certain spells that modify the effects of other spells. Makes for a bit more consistency and systematic thinking than this spell system otherwise would." --Emily Short... (No comment) [+](No comment) ( - Full review) --Jim Kaplan... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk...

Vote for this game

Damnatio Memoriae, by Emily Short
2 votes
"Same magic system..." [+]"Same magic system as Savoir-Faire." () --RedHatter... (No comment) [+](No comment) () --Sobol...

Vote for this game

Endless, Nameless, by Adam Cadre
2 votes
(No comment) [+](No comment) --Meredith... "You have limited..." [+]"You have limited resources to cast spells so choose carefully. Game also uses a groundhog loop that lets you apply what you learned when you try again." --Kinetic Mouse Car...

Vote for this game

Whitefield Academy of Witchcraft, by Steph Cherrywell
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --IFforL2...

Vote for this game

Visit Skuga Lake - Masterpiece Edition, by Ryan Veeder
1 vote
"Combine totems with gemstones to produce a wide variety of spells" [+]"Combine totems with gemstones to produce a wide variety of spells" () --TheBoxThinker...

Vote for this game

Ka, by Dan Efran
1 vote
"Spell songs..." [+]"Spell songs inspired by the spells from the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead." ( - Full review) --Sobol...

Vote for this game

Domestic Elementalism, by fireisnormal
1 vote
"Casual yet..." [+]"Casual yet complex puzzles about a witch trying to fix her home after a long trip. A creative magic system in a custom choice game." () --Kinetic Mouse Car...

Vote for this game

Words of Power, by Stark Springs
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Fredrik...

Vote for this game

Sorcerer, by Steve Meretzky
1 vote
(No comment) [+](No comment) () --Denk...

Vote for this game

The Reliques of Tolti-Aph, by Graham Nelson
1 vote
"The..." [+]"The 'effect' rules are the best Inform 7 implementation I've seen." --Draconis...

Vote for this game

Scroll Thief, by Daniel M. Stelzer
1 vote
"Enchanter system..." [+]"Enchanter system complete with metamagic." () --Floating Info...

Vote for this game

Junior Arithmancer, by Mike Spivey
1 vote
"Super fun for my inner math nerd" [+]"Super fun for my inner math nerd" ( - Full review) --mg51...

Vote for this game

Is there another game that you think should be on this list? Just fill in the title of a game you'd like to vote for.
Game Title (or TUID or IFID):

Poll created on December 7, 2011