Arcane Sorcery

I’d like to give a mixed review if I could. It’s not a terrible game, but I’ll go with a thumbs down because there is no explanation provided for several important game mechanics. For example, if you don’t leave troops in a newly conquered province, then there is a chance of rebellion. Exactly how long they have to stay there is not explained. Another example, the game does not have an option to list all the provinces under your control with the income each produces. This would have been useful, because there is some sort of income penalty as more provinces get added. Again, this is something that is not explained.

All in all, another attempt to clone a cult classic Master of Magic from 1994 iirc.
Not bad generally - but sadly lacking in content. :( The old game had more than 10 races and 5 paths of magic which could also be combined, plus additional perks for your sorcerer king, such as Warlord, Diplomat, mastery in specific magic area, special start, etc. Another game in the same vein - Dominions - had about 10 races from the start (and now has close to 50 - played differently!), with 8 paths * 8 schools of magic. This game has 3 races and 4 magic paths (uncombinable). Where are my orks?! ;)
At least, during my playthrough there were no glaring bugs, plus it's cheap. But with current content it's a game which will grow stale in a month for a casual player. Can't recommend it, sorry.

Just don't waste your time, even if you get "Arcane Sorcery" for free (I've got it at 85% discount, buying a bunch of games on recent Black Friday sale).

I have never seen a worse game having Positive (or even Mostly Positive) average ratings on Steam (I've even checked, if those positive reviews seem to be genuine, but they do).

There is nothing in it, that has not been done much better more than 20 years ago - just get yourself 1 of the first 3 HoMM games or the free Battle for Wesnoth instead.

Due to badly designed and counter-intuitive controls it's very slow. AI is almost nonexistent. The game is badly balanced - some spells for example require amount of research and capacity of mana pool, that practically are unreachable before conquering the whole map. Tutorial is bugged (it's unmovable window at times pops-out in random locations covering the button, that you are supposed to press). In-game descriptions are often misleading. There is no manual or even a FAQ or a guide. And last, but not least, it's simply no fun to play. Generally, it's approximately as good, as the website, linked by it's dev... which is just a parked domain containing nothing, but advertisements :(

I've spend like 9h playing this game (the rest was idle time), just for 2 reasons:
- because I'm interested in game design and often play to learn (but there was nothing to learn even from the obvious mistakes made in designing and programming it);
- and because I do not lightly pass condemning judgements, which in this case seems seems like the only choice.

Rough, but cheap. I played a few games and learned the choke points and flaws. I can't say it's a great version even of itself, but if you get this on sale, it's essentially free, so my expectations were appropriately low. I enjoyed playing it. The replay value is low after two or three plays through. I wish there were more resolution than thumbs up and thumbs down. This is a B quality $2 game. If it were $50, it would definitely be thumbs down.

I appreciate this game on 7/10

Great game! Paid 3$, was worth it. Not super deep, but was fun for the few hours I played it. Great starter game!

Literally just bought this game... it was a promotional price, so... why not?

This would best be summarized as a classical strategy game that belongs in the 90s. It's pretty amusing. It kept me entertained for 4.5 hours. It's decent if you're looking to buy this for under $5.00 USD. It's certainly not worth much more. It's a slight bit outdated.

Starting off, you make a selection of 3 possible races, 4 magical paths, 3 map choices, any start location desired, and a lot of buildings to choose from.

Each unit has an upkeep. You either build toward military or economy. Early game I focused on defensive builds, spammed range units. Mid game, focus economy and magic. Late game, military and rush the enemy.

Want to break the game and win a lot? Just get archers or wizards. Upgrade them for better range. They can win against all melee units in total disregard of being outnumbered 2 to 1. They will suffer against cavalries. The AI will run past your frontline to hit your archers and wizards first. Simply sit your own cavalry or melee units next to your flanks and counter-attack the enemy or defend the middle of the map as your range units chip away at the enemy.

The rebellions will become so hazardous that even the AI struggles to keep the peace. I simply just held key choke points, controlled a large chunk of land at a time, and just blitz'd the life out of the enemy. You don't need to control every single area to win the game. Sack the enemy, and vacate the area. When that stack is weakened from blitz tactics, split them into single units and attack every surrounding territory, some of which will be empty if AI owned. Guerilla and Blitz tactics combined makes winning easy.

Remember children... No matter what strategy game you play... Either Run and Shoot or Blitz :)

It's... fine. it's retro, low-budget, low-content. if that's what you're looking for, great! you found it. if not, you won't enjoy this. there's nothing *wrong* with it, it's just a very simple game, few options for strategy and none of them really interesting imo. a cool look at the development of 4x if you treat it that way. really linear gameplay and all that jazz, some mostly mindless fun to be had but there isn't really a "deeper" level to it.

might be worth a few bucks if you're passionate but. not sure why you'd be passionate tbh. i returned it.

This is a decent casual 4x fantasy game.

Choose one of three factions and one of three maps to conquer. Every space has about a dozen pre-determined buildings that you can place, which will generate gold or mana or let you create more powerful units.

To slow you down, after conquering a territory you will need to garrison a large army there for a few turns or there will be a revolt.... losing you the territory and spawning a large neutral army. On balance, it is easier to conquer slowly and not deal with the rebels.

And that is the whole thing. The art isn't great but it isn't terrible. The sound effects work. I liked the music, but that will be to taste. The UI is a little rough, and the game was clearly done in flash, including getting flash memory errors and the like while playing.

More maps, more armies, and more of a reason to play the different factions differently is what this game needs to go to the next level. I found the same strategy worked no matter which army I picked, and the differences in the stats faction to faction were too minor to create unique playstyles. At which point choosing the armies is mostly a reskin. Once you figure out how to slowly roll forward on any map with any faction.... well there is not much more to the game.

I beat it twice in 5 hours, including once on the hardest difficulty. There are no achievements, and not much replay value beyond that. All that being said, I did enjoy the 5 hours I spent with it. Be aware that what you are getting is 4x light. The 5 hours I played were fun, and I would like to see an expansion or sequel that did more.

7/10

Just about worth the $2 I spent on it. Lacking in depth, a little more and the game could be quite fun. But ends up being more bland like Risk.

This game is probably the best game in the history of anything ever! i get to be a sorcerer king, i can summon lot of minions to murder a bunch of other sorcerer kings, i can move chess knights around a tiny map, it is worth every penny!

(legit though this is really fun, i give it a 7.3/10)

perhaps one could call this Dominions lite - very lite. It is well worth the price I think. The AI is enough of a challenge so far, The economy side of things is very simple - build in each of the lands you take to generate revenue and the more noble houses you have the bigger you can make your army, the army does cost to run and the need to also ensure a province you take is protected from internal unrest means that one cannot just galavant across teh map taking lands with just a few units at the start.

I havent finished a game yet but am curious to see how it goes - i am wondering if it gets to a point that once one has more than half the lands that their revenue and armies is so high that they can just roll over everything else quite easily, or is there some other challenge awaitng the player?

A nice beer and pretzel game that is easy to play and master. It is also get boring quick if you try playing on the largest map.

Go in with low expectations and an understanding that you'll be dealing with something that resembles an early 90's 4X game, and you'll have a good time. The low price of this game makes it worth the investment if you want to experience what strategy gaming was like circa 1992. That's not a bad thing, mind you. Arcan Sorcery doesn't try to hide what it is: a very simple, low cost game that brings back the early spirit of 4X computer games.

good game like risk only needs more maps or a random map generator

Take some Defender of the Crown, a splash of Total War and a bit of Masters of Magic and you get this game. It's not as deep or pollished as TW or MoM but for 7 bucks it's a nice Turn-based strategy game that plays like a board game. 7/10

It's like defender of the crown a game I used to play sooooo much ! I enjoy this game the kinda strategy game ya play it beat it ...and it on harder play it beat it and just kick back and let the strategy of the game tickle your mind. I like the mix of spells also....i thew a big spell at another guys state ....to bad for him. Any most of all you can build up your provinces and build different units and manage then either to quickly be ready for battle or to take time to build up get rich and dominate the map.