Running a magical school seems tough. Even our regular, mundane education establishments are foundries of chaos; imagine throwing the arcane into the mix. Bringing together the management and strategy game framework of colony sims like Rimworld, the exploratory, party-driven, turn-based RPG action of Darkest Dungeon, and Skyrim’s best sequence, the College of Winterhold, this is Mind over Magic. Boasting an impressive 89% Steam rating after a year in early access, it’s now finally launched in full, and you can grab it at a discount to celebrate if you’re fast.
Mind over Magic comes from developer Sparkypants and is published by Klei, the studio that brought us Don’t Starve and the excellent space-based colony sim Oxygen Not Included. It puts you in charge of an academy for mages that, like any good wizard school, is both cursed and built over a sprawling underground labyrinth filled with dark secrets. The result is a strategy game that will put both your management skills and your tactics to the test. You’ll need to study forgotten arcana, grow magical plants to brew potions and elixirs, research powerful beasts, and recruit and train budding initiates into masters of their craft.
You have complete control over the construction of your establishment, building it out brick by brick to meet your goals. Experimentation might reveal potential synergies between certain rooms and resources, while decoration means you can always make it look good. Train your students in dark magic, and you can have them animate undead helpers to perform menial tasks such as tending to plants or repairing damaged structures. Or teach them to become animal handlers and have them raise a mighty dragon capable of spreading your school’s influence far beyond its walls.
Now, I did mention a curse. The Nexus lies beneath your academy’s foundations – a sprawling, fractured realm of pure magic. Grab a well-trained party of mages and descend into its depth in search of powerful resources. You can teach them to multiclass for versatility, or push them down a path of singular mastery in the pursuit of the most devastating spells. When danger strikes, you take on enemies in turn-based RPG battles reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon’s encounters. Just make sure to keep your best students safe.
With the launch of its 1.0 update, Sparkypants has rounded out the main quest progression of Mind over Magic. Become strong enough to overcome the seals buried in the Nexus, and you might be able to root out the source of the curse and break it for good. You’ll also be able to rescue and trade with the Ember Dragon, and take on new faction quests for the Shattered and Raven Cultists. The Codex has been rounded out with additional tutorials and nested tooltips allowing you to keep track of how everything connects, and there are 82 Steam achievements to earn.
Mind over Magic update 1.0 is out now on Steam, with a 25% discount available through Wednesday February 19 allowing you to pick it up for just $18.74 / £14.24. Find it right here if you’re looking to apply for the headmaster’s job.
We’ve got you covered for all of the best management games on PC in 2025, along with the best sandbox games if you’re eager to exercise your creativity.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or join our community Discord to stay in the know.