Magic Inn

Who needs waitstaff when you’ve got witchcraft?

My thoughts about Magic Inn are the quintessential feeling of both being so excited to watch something grow, and being impatient for where the progress is currently. When I first saw the game on Steam many months ago, it was immediately added to my wishlist without hesitation. Although the game was released in "early access", and I knew full well the issues that could come with it, I was excited for a game to bring some diversity into the cozy world of "chore core".

Magic Inn takes the traditional sim concept of owning and operating a tavern to the next level by quite literally adding a little bit of magic. You're dropped into a world filled with fast travel fireplaces, magical flying plates, and candles that light themselves.

The goal is simple: make connections, teach yourself to cook and bartend, and earn yourself a North Star award.

UX (Control Feel & User Experience)

As with many aspects of this game, the current state of this category would be "work in progress", as it is slowly improving. The controls are very simple and easy to understand; traditional WASD for movement, then specific keys for opening things like character information, inventory, tavern management, etc.

At the time I began to write this, there were issues with camera controls, movement, and some interactions with the staff. I'm happy to report that after some chatting with the developers, a recent patch was rolled out that completely sorted these out and greatly improved the quality of life (QOL) of the game.

Another minor issue that I personally have is that none of the menus can be backed out of with the Esc key; you have to manually click on the red X on every screen. This isn't consistent though so I'd like to see minor things like this addressed.

Gameplay Progression

Overall from what I have experienced so far the progression is pretty steady. There are a lot of different mechanics to the game that stretch beyond just making food and serving it. This includes chatting with townsfolk to invite them to a hot meal or drink, flirting, or negotiating a bargain.

You first begin by learning the basics, then eventually graduate to handling VIPs, crafting furniture, and upgrading the tavern little by little to appease a higher clientele. Other than a few hiccups and lack of information from time to time, the overall path is clear, though not always easy.

For this, the main thing that needs work is the explanation of some of the game mechanics. For example, during the deckbuilding social interactions some of the effects needed to play certain cards or given to you by your opponents do not ever appear on the HUD, and other parts of the HUD never appear to do anything.

Another example is different information among the menus being poorly explained or just generally unclear. These issues can lead to players feeling confused and lost with how to navigate through the later parts of the game.

Immersion

From the very beginning the game does a great job of drawing you in and keeping you there. You quickly fall into a routine, despite any bugs or nuances, and happily find yourself commuting to the market in the mornings to drum up more business; mustering up the confidence to flirt with some townies; then opening for business in the late morning through the evening.

It's a very welcoming and cozy routine, filled with interesting people, and the occasional visit from your boss, reminding you that his cut always comes off the top.

Stability and Performance

Though I have mentioned numerous bugs and issues, the game is surprisingly quite stable. Through all the hours I've put in so far, I've never experienced a crash or major game breaking issue.

I have recently experienced a few larger issues such as guests not properly sitting in their seats and rather hovering in the air next to their chairs, or staff suddenly having their pathing interrupted then just being broken for the rest of the day.

I'm happy to say that both of these issues along with many others I have reported directly to the developers on the game's official Discord.

Though some of the larger issues are still works in progress, the most recently reported bugs I have assisted with pinning down already have one of many patches rolled out to fix them. Personally I don't mind "early access" games, so long as they have the dedication and commitment of developers to guarantee continuous progress. In this case, I can confidently say that it does. Developers who listen to feedback, take suggestions into consideration, and quickly hop on urgent issues and roll out fixes.

It's akin to getting in a car that mostly runs, maybe it will overheat or have some issues along the way, but you have a mechanic riding shotgun.

Value for Price

Currently the game is priced at $14.99 USD / $20.69 CAD / €12.74 Euro. Normally with an "early access" game that is an obvious work in progress, my natural reaction to this price tag would be an obvious "skip" or "wait for further development". I might actually make an exception in this case for a few different reasons.

First, though the game has many similarities to other management simulation games, it very much stands on its own two feet and claims its own identity. Second, we've addressed the many issues this game currently has, but again if we compare it to its direct competition, not many games have as frequent or as impactful updates as Magic Inn, which is promising and inspiring.

Final Thoughts

I think overall Magic Inn has two great things going for it currently: it's a game with a lot of potential in this space, and it has a team of people behind it (both developers and players) that want nothing but to see it succeed.

It would have been so easy for the community, spoiled by games much more fleshed out than this, to quickly look the other way at the first sight of a bug or issue. Instead, they've stood by, submitted feedback, helped gather data for the developers both on PC and Steam Deck, and have really pushed to see this thing succeed.

I think the rarest find you could get with a game like this, is a developer who will reply to your comments, questions, bug reports, and reviews in a calm, professional, understanding manner. Even the reviews about the game "not being fun" or "not having enough content" are answered diplomatically with information that they are actively working on it, but trying to improve the gameplay and quality of life first and foremost.

For the price, I would say just in the 20 hours I've played (and just barely gotten to Act 2), it's worth the price. It's worth it for not just the hours you'll spend in this world, but the hours to be spent with the content coming soon.

Joystick Score: 4/5

Can't hear you, I'm too busy flying plates and walking through fireplaces…