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Celebrate magical games of witchcraft and wizardry with Magic Week on RPS

Join us for a spell

The words Magic Week, in letters of different graphic styles including bubble writing and pixel art, against a black background on which there are different coloured star shapes, and an eye shooting lightning
Alice Bell avatar
Feature by Alice Bell Deputy Editor
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Cower, brief mortals! Wait, that's a halloween thing, isn't it. Welcome to the magic circle, pals! Not the actual one, just, like, thematically speaking. Starting today until next Friday, February 17th, it's Magic Week here at RPS, where we aim to highlight all manner of fabulous games about magic, witches, wizards, general sorcery and other spell-adjacent tomfoolery. We're also putting special emphasis on magic games made by trans developers, too. Join us for a glimpse of what's coming up.

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We'll be posting about games that are out now, games that have demos, and games that aren't going to be out for a bit, but seem like they're worth keeping an eye on. There are games about schools, kind of creepy games, life sims, potion brewing, and even a bit of wrestling. Over the next two weeks, keep an eye out for any posts with the little magic logo in the corner of the thumbnail image, or follow the RPS Magic Week tag to see new articles go up. We'll also be adding everything you write to this post right here, so why not whack it in your bookmarks for later, yeah?

At RPS we've always been about championing great indie games and creators who put interesting, weird, or otherwise good stuff out into the world. We hope that you follow along with us and find something you really like during Magic Week, because we found a lot of things we really liked. There's also an added bonus because, since many of these developers are small teams - or even one-person teams - you can then feel extra cool if one of them turns out to be your new favourite, just like when you're the first person to like a new band and you can wear their t-shirt to other shows.

So fill up yer cauldron and scoop the eyes out of your designated newts, we're going magicking.

Part of your work bench in Potion Tales, a wooden sideboard covered in grim things like rats tails, claws, and with a mushroom on a chopping board

Potion Tales is a creepy magical puzzle game with no wrong answers

Rearrange the shelves in your probably-illegal potion shop and give people whatever potion you think will solve their problem. Sometimes it won't. But we persist.

The player, a pink-haired spellcaster stands amongst loads of flying, red cyclops enemies in Spellbook Demonslayers.

Spellbook Demonslayers is a wicked, witchy take on Vampire Survivors

No, there isn't an Old Testament that whirls around your person like a holy sawblade, but there is a revolving shield with a pistol glued onto it.

A Witchy Life Story screenshot of the player character talking to Devin, a young musician with a guitar and beret.

Witchy Life Story lets me live out my ideal cottagecore fantasy

A fluffy, cosy visual novel where you play as a mischievous witch living a cottagecore lifestyle? One where you tend your garden, make poitions for villagers, and potentially romance said villagers? Bliss.

Two witches haggle over a potion in a fantasy potion shop.

Potionomics makes chucking a bunch of teeth into a cauldron feel great

Making potions meets paying attention to market trends meets haggling via card battles. Meta, because that combination is a good recipe in itself.

A screenshot from Reka shows a young girl approaching a chicken-legged house.

This witch sim has the chicken-legged Baba Yaga house, so I want it

Not only does Reka have said house, but you can customise and decorate it, and add new rooms for your witchy doings. Excellent pitch. I want mine to have a big weird tower on one side, and a library.

Two witches haggle over a potion in a fantasy potion shop.

Potionomics makes chucking a bunch of teeth into a cauldron feel great

Making potions meets paying attention to market trends meets haggling via card battles. Meta, because that combination is a good recipe in itself.

A witch fends off bullets from a turret inside a mine in The Knight Witch

The Knight Witch shows a magical bullet-hell is a great match for a Metroidvania

You wouldn't have thought a bullet hell goes naturally with a 'troidvania, but The Knight Witch has good controls and cool level design that carry it off.

A forboding tunnel entrance in The Salt Order

The Salt Order draws on old magic for a unique horror concept

A solo dev is working on a very cool horror concept where your only magical protection is drawing in salt. Fascinating, weird, good. And scary.

A Dungeon Drafters screenshot showing a gridded battlefield in a forest. The red-headed mage is at the bottom of the screen with a slime, ghost, and dinosaur occupying the field.

Obliterating slimes as a fluffy rabbit wizard in Dungeon Drafters is the best thing ever

The combination of cute and deadly is always a winner, especially if magic cards are involved. This rabbit is ever better because he has a hat with holes for his ears.

Artwork of several hooded wizards from Wizard Of Legend

Five years on, Wizard Of Legend is still kicking ass and taking names

In the hands of a seasoned pro, this is a game that's essentially magical kung-fu, with your titular wizard pulling off flashy spells in spectacular fashion. But cor, it does not give up its secrets lightly.

A half completed puzzle in Harmony's Odyssey of a 3D diorama of a fantasy airport. The plane is a blue dragon, refuelling my drinking from a giant cocktail

Harmony's Odyssey's adorable shell hides an even more adorable puzzle centre

This non-violent witchy puzzle game is cute to the core, but with a great sense of humour between the layers, and a very fun take on myths and legends at the same time.

Samar, a cool witch with a big hat, is listening to a walk through and playing a game of spirit swap match 3 in Spirit Swap

Spirit Swap's endless demo will eat your entire day

I'm a fan of match-3 games, so I'm thrilled that one exists that is high quality, not trying to squeeze me for money, and full of magical queer characters with horns.

A nighttime raid in The Last Spell, with dozens of mutants on the left attempting to breach the village's walls.

The Last Spell's magic ruined the world, and I'm so here for it

In The Last Spell, magic is the thing that destroyed the world and created an army of mutants from which you must nightly defend your settlement. So magic isn't all good, is what we're saying.

A screenshot of a group 2D pixelart scene in Ikenfell, as a group of students regard a barred gate that will lead to the magical school Ikenfell
Image credit: Humble Games

Ikenfell is an endearing tactical RPG that gave me earworms

What's better than a cute isometric pixel-art RPG set in a magical school? A cute isometric pixel-art RPG set in a magical school that has great tunes.

A So May It Be screenshot showing Morgan the witch who has long white hair is wearing a black dress and moon charm necklace

I’m learning how to curse exes and talk to the dead in So May It Be

I know I wish that I'd been part of a coven when I was a teen. In So May It Be, you are, and you learn how to do witchy things at the same time as making friends with your nice bejumpered fellow witches.

A Spells & Secrets student blasts fire at enemies across a luxurious common room. Their spell hotbar can be seen in the lower left hand corner of the screen.

Spells & Secrets uses roguelike inspirations to bring a magical school to life

Rebecca chats to Alchemist Interactive's CEO Florian Mann about their interesting and creative roguelite-ish magic shool adventure. Colour me intrigued by all the spells.

The greenhouse classroom in Spellcaster University

Spellcaster University shows it's harder running a magic school than going to one

Speaking of magic schools, have you any idea how tough it is to run one, keeping an eye on all the students, while a Dark Lord is slowly advancing to destroy you? Pretty tough!

The Sandman flees from a massive troll in Through the Nightmares.

Through The Nightmares spins childhood fears into a devilish platformer

If Netflix's TV show version of Sandman had Tom Sturridge hoppin' about doing all platforming I reckon you'd get a six series run, easy. But seriously, check out this demo.

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