The Magic Circle (video game)
The Magic Circle is a 2015 indie sandbox puzzle game by the studio Question. It is available for Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game mixes sandbox play with puzzle solving and exploration. Players can trap enemies and objects to steal their functions and give those powers to other creatures, creating minions to help clear obstacles. Every decision influences how the game unfolds, and the game often plays with metafiction.
In story terms, you play as a QA tester who is brought in to demo a game that has languished in development for nearly twenty years. It’s the sequel to a cult classic interactive fiction with a devoted fan base. Two lead developers, Ishmael Gilder and Maze Evelyn, clash over ideas, turning the game into what feels like vaporware. A rogue AI from an older version of the game reaches out to teach you how to manipulate the world to finish or escape the game.
The development team included Stephen Alexander, Kain Shin, and Jordan Thomas (who previously worked on BioShock and Dishonored). The original score was composed by Steve Pardo, with Patrick Balthrop as sound engineer. The voice cast features James Urbaniak, Ashly Burch, Karen Dyer, and Stephen Russell.
An early access version went live on Steam in May 2015, with a full release the following month. The game later came to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016. It has an average score around 80 on Metacritic and was nominated for the Independent Games Festival’s Excellence in Narrative in 2016, as well as IGN’s Most Innovative Game of 2015.
Sales were modest—about 16,500 copies by March 2016—and creator Jordan Thomas called that level unsustainable, citing limited marketing. Critics praised the game’s creativity and its commentary on modern game design; IGN gave it 7.8/10 and GameSpot 7.0/10.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 09:12 (CET).