Arcane Worlds

The fact that shit like this is left available for purchase through Steam should piss everyone off. I stopped buying games in early access BECAUSE of crap like this. I've purchased this "game" (Puke) a decade ago. Valve needs to do something about cash grabs & abandoned games. This shit turns people off from supporting games in early access from developers who actually give a fuck.

Abandonware: Last Update was "Mon, December 21, 2020 - Update 0.46"

Considering that since 2017 or so practically nothing happened regarding development, abandoning the game was probably the right decision.

Misleading any potential customers about the Early Access status is not. Developers can retire games that are no longer under development.

So, current status: Scam.

Come on man, this could be so GREAT! Get this game the love it deserves. A modern day magic carpet game has so much potential!

4 years and still in early access. It's a fun little game for about 3-4 hours with really nothing to do. You fly around, fight some really basic enemies that show up, there's *some* puzzle solving but really this comes off as something someone is making in their free time to kill time. I wouldn't recommend it unless your interested in supporting someone else's hobby. I bought this game 4 years ago and I've played it like... for 4 hours throughout that time. Would I say it is worth 10 bucks? Ehh not really but it's an oddity and a nice little sandbox.

I like it. The atmosphere, music and graphics are great. It reminds me that old Magic Carpet or whatever it was called in 90s. It needs more content though, some story, real challenge and other players (at least AI). There is too much mana in most levels - should be harder to obtain. And I wish the author kept it in a form of colored spheres/blobs instead of the sparkes. Also, I loved those balloons in the old game, they looked cool and more serious than the funny bears in this version)
But, anyways, good job and I wish this project to continue.

I hate to downvote this game as I'm a huge fan of Magic Carpet and this is as close to a remake as we are likely to get. The game is fairly fun, looks pretty nice and has some of the core features of Magic Carpet completed. It's a nice tech demo or prototype but to be honest there's really not much of a 'game' here.

The development is excruciatingly slow with very few updates. There has been 2 this year which is a LOT more than we usually get so perhaps there is a glimmer of hope for the future of the title. Since I first played the game after purchasing it years ago, very little has changed. Most update logs mention things being improved behind-the-scenes, which is great, but since the product is already on sale and has been for years I think perhaps some visible changes thrown alongside the engine upgrades would go a long way. If the dev didn't mention these under-the-hood changes I'd struggle to find evidence the game was patched in the first place.

My main reasons for the downvoting is definitely the slow development, but also due to a touchy subject I don't usually like mentioning and that is the attitude of the developer. Any time people complain about lack of updates he mentions how he has to work to get money like everyone else and that this takes a back-seat in his life. There's only one time I can accept that as a reason for slow development and that is in the case the product in question is either a free game or just a mod. When people have paid money for a product, it's insulting for the developer to try to make us feel bad for him. He's selling a product that we have paid for, he should be worrying about his image and how he portrays his company.

I understand going through financial difficulties as a game developer as I'm in the exact same boat. The difference is, I'm keeping my projects off Steam or any other platforms until they have the full game-flow incorporated. If that means I never get a game finished, that's fine. I'd rather that then for people to pay for something that may never become a reality.

I do wish the developer luck in the future though and perhaps one day this game will get finished at which time I'll come back and check it out again, as well as re-write this review. If you'ere a huge fan of Magic Carpet and want a couple hours of fun for the price of a movie ticket, I can reccomend the game. If you want a game which is feature complete, with frequent updates and a caring customer-friendly developer, I would steer clear.

EDIT 2021:
So I posted the above review in 2018, 4 years after release. It's now 2021, 7 years after the game launched in early access. There's been some additions and improvements, but nowhere near the amount you'd expect in a 3-year space of time. The game has now been in development for the better part of a decade and I honestly don't see it coming to completion unless the developer really finds the time to buckle down and get working. There was a single update for the entire year in 2019, but 2020 saw a bit more of an increase in updates. Nearly 4 months into 2021 there hasn't been an update yet, so it seems to be a rollercoaster of sorts. I Wish the developer best of luck with getting this project finished once day so I can review it properly!

I wish the developer would donate the code to open source. I hope even he/she realizes at this pace the game will never be what was hoped it to be. By making it open source, the game could become better AND still distribute through here. The "value add" would be only major releases sent through steam, while the community does the work.

4 years after it's debut on Steam it is still in Early Access. Not really much hope of this one ever being a complete game at this point.

I have owned this game since it was first released. I had hopes for the game then, young and Naive as I was back then.

Since the game has come out, there has been about four updates. All of which added nothing.

I have owned this game since it came out and NOTHING has happened to add to or change the game....

I can't in good conscience recommend this 'game', and as a matter of fact, I'll have to advise you to avoid this 'game'.

If fifteen minutes of content and some nice water physics constitutes a game.

There may not be much to this simple game, it may not have received an update in damn near forever, and like people say you just fly around as a disembodied collection of spells, and do ... something with bizarre flying teddies but it's like a fun tech demo worth playing. It correctly does everything it's supposed to do. Features an interesting fluid simulation with a few proper ways to test it out, very low system requirements, runs smooth, and is difficult to even deliberately cause performance loss. It has beautiful landscapes, water, music. and a charming atmosphere. I think the dev should take what they've done here and make a different kind of game, something with more standard mechanics and / or add features like an on-foot mode and such to this game. Don't get it if you're looking for a full game. There isn't one, just a heartwarming, nostalgia-inducing tech demo.

Lately, I've been playing this game in 1 hour increments. I really love it, I love the atmosphere, the way it plays. It's strangely common and serene with it's world and ambient music-- until enemies attack of course. I sincerely wish someone with more money than me can help the developer out and donate because I really would like to see this game finished! I never plated Magic Carpet so it's very fresh to me. Very different. Love it!

Having played Arcane Worlds since v0.19 I think every new build has brought something new to the table. Progress on the game might not be fast given that there is only one developer but it is certainly steady and v0.25 is almost like a different game to v0.19 now. One of the first major surprises for me was just how much better the randomly generated worlds looked after the generation code was revamped to build the worlds around the gameplay elements rather than the other way around. Before colours were mostly the same and random terrain was sort of thrown together. Now you will find pillars, lakes, valleys, forests and more with proper palettes that all fit together very well in making a believable and natural-looking random world. Couple those elements with terrain effecting spells like Fracture and Volcano you can actually have a lot of fun just terraforming worlds and customising them to your liking.

Spells are no longer found randomly on worlds like previous builds and instead you will find runes which you use on crafting worlds to create new spells. This gives you some early goals to work towards as different spells require different runes so you have to scavenge worlds for the rune types needed for the spells you want. Certain worlds will be easier to conquer if you have the right spells and certain puzzles might require a specific spell to solve.

A much-needed interactive tutorial has been added so anybody not already familiar with the old Magic Carpet games will now have the basic movement, combat and crafting mechanics explained to them. You don't get everything handed to you on a plate though so you still have to figure out what those circles are and what to do with them.

Several improvements to the map make locating items on worlds much more easily. Un-triggered circles are marked as are creatures and mana gatherers and there is a line back to your castle so navigating is much easier. In the universe map you can also check if you have missed anything on worlds you have visited which is pretty useful.

Difficulty has increased on v0.25 as your starting mana is now lower and you can't just rain fireball death on enemies right away so you have to fly more evasively until you have added some mana to your castle allowing you to sustain your fire rate for longer periods. Dark worlds are a new addition and whilst I don't want to ruin the surprise I will say that poorly prepared Wizards are going to have a bad time in these! One of my early criticisms of the game was that it was a little too easy and creatures offered no real threat to you which is now being addressed.

The game is also moddable which is fairly unusual for an alpha-build game. The scripts in the /gen/ folder are not only responsible for world generation but also the gameplay elements so there is a lot that can be done to tweak and customise the game. There isn't much in the way of documentation (or even comments) so the difficulty curve for modding is currently quite high but I expect this to change as the game develops further.

Arcane Worlds is a truly amazing experience for an alpha and I can't recommend it enough regardless of whether you ever played Magic Carpet or not.

I should point out that as the game is DRM-free many people (including myself) usually aren't logged into Steam when I play so the "played" hours count (3.5) is far from correct for me at least. I think I will have to change that!

This game looks like it could have a lot of potential. Unfortunately development seems to have stalled. There are virtually no detailed play instructions at the time of this review. Graphics are minimal, little variety in opponents/mobs. After the first few worlds they all begin to look the same. I applaud the game concept but it's a shame it's not being realized to it's full potential.

Here's a shocker; I only bought this game on impulse... It looked like an awesome idea and that's about all I went on when I bought it.

This game really surprised me though. I played it way too long for its actual gameplay. I guess it's because of the thrill of exploring an uncharted world, the need to get more spells to be even more powerful and see the absolute chaos that your power can bring to the world. To be able to shape it in any way that you want. I mean let's be honest here... Who wouldn't want to be a powerful mage soaring through the sky, killing evil black things that are hostile and gaining more powers as you explore new worlds?

I for one am pleased, for once, that I followed my 'ooooo shiny' impulse. Thanks for all the work that you guys do! I'm glad to see that the game is updated fairly regularly.

I loved Magic Carpet, so I bought this as soon as I saw it. Even if it wasn't good I wanted to support the developer. Luckily it's not bad. It's fun, but most importantly shows a lot of promise once it's done. Can't wait for missions etc to be available.

UPDATE (Mar 2015): I didn't play this for ages, waiting for updates. It's much better now, with several worlds etc. Unfortunately no other wizards yet, each world is complete when you claim all the manna, however it is still a lot of fun. Development seems to have stalled but I hope it will pick up again in future.

There is nothing to do... I don't see any reason for all the thumbs up. I understand this is alpha, but there is no real game to play. You float around, you can shoot birds, you send weird teddy bears marching about, you can make big holes or mountains, but there's really no point to any of it yet. None of your actions matter and your changes to the world aren't even saved.

This game, though very early in development, is beutifull and fun to manipulate. water especially. I have immensly enjoyed my time in this game, and i lover the beuaty of the world. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=226460930.
I woulds say, this game as it is right now alone is worth mabye $5. however, since its in very early alpha i think we can ecpect even more awsome content. in terms of potential, i'd say this game is well worth $20. buying now supports development, so overall, i think it's a good purchase. i certaintly don't regret my $10.
Also, if you want to see for youtself, try the demo.

This game is awesome! just like the old MC games. The water and terraforming effects blow my mind. Hoping the spell sound effects get upgraded (mostly lightning), but still work how they are... Cant wait to see this grow into a full game.

This game looks good for a pre release And i love the fluid system them created inside this game it feel almost real and it responds very well so i say good job and keep up that very good work.

But they should redo the distance blurring i think there anti-anlise is not completely perfect it loops a bit pixalted but other than that it looks ammazing

Want a game where you can spend hours turning the entire world into a monstrous volcano that threatens to bring even the mightiest of graphics cards to its knees? Look no further than Arcane Worlds.

The first thing I noticed was the cheat options. While I lasted at least 20 minutes before succumbing to the temptation, I found that the game is so lacking in features that I had little else left to do besides cheat. Once you give yourself the mana cheat and the ALL SPELLS cheat.... Rapid-fire volcanology awaits! Many other available spells vie for your interest as well, but they all pale in comparison to the mighty volcano spell.

SO.... $10 for a quality physics simulator which (I have not yet been able to crash, although I can drop framerate to abysmal levels) where I get to turn the entire world into a volcano over the course of an hour and a half? Count me in!

Players: You are ALREADY getting a quality physics fluids simulator in a procedurally generated (rather small/wrapping) world for just $10. Go for it. This is more entertaining and less buggy than a LOT of other crap out there on Steam (and other ware stores).

To the dev: Well done sir! Now you face the daunting task of adding meaningful gameplay to this fantastic world simulator you have created. I wish you the best of luck and encourage players to follow this game closely as things develop.

It's early access yet (01/29/14) so the game is not complete, but what is there is very promising.

Arcane Worlds takes up the same style of game play as the Magic Carpet series put out by BullFrog in 1994. In the intervening two decades nobody has taken up the gauntlet and offered up such a destructable world. It's not bullet holes and burn marks slapped up when you miss but burning trees and craters gouged out of the landscape. Even though the roster of spells is only about half filled the expectation is there; There is no problem that can't be solved with some magic.

The developer is doing everything right and I can't imagine early access on steam was an easy decision. I have no doubts that single player will eventually become a fully realized spiritual successor to the Magic Carpet style of gameplay. The frustrating part of this is going to be waiting while the developer keeps up the same quality job implementing the rest of the game. Looking forward to each new update adding Spells or other game play features, and since I am sure the Dev will be sick of it not going to compare Arcane Worlds to Magic Carpet again. But it really is well done and unique with a great sense of art design.

Pros
What's there works, and is a professional job! Single Player, the Spells that are currently present, creatures, magic portals, multiple worlds, and the redoing the landscaping all work and every single part of that looks great.

Cons
It's very early access. Only about half of the spells are in place, an odd choice of mana collector models, and a bare minimum of creatures to provide mana. Also there is no "dungons & dragons" style story or missions in place yet so frankly it's very very early access at this point. The biggest problem is the simple fact that the game is early access and not "done".