Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 299 sampled Steam reviews (153 positive / 146 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Bugs & crashes20% mention it
- Multiplayer & servers11% mention it
- Story & writing8% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Bugs & crashes73% mention it
- Multiplayer & servers14% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
29%
93 reviews
5-15h
55%
84 reviews
15-40h
64%
64 reviews
40-100h
64%
47 reviews
100h+
82%
11 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 74 | 6 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 85 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 85% | 79 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 79 | 12 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 57% | 58 | 22 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 62 reviews sampled · 40 total reviews in window · weighted 22.3 up / 16.6 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (43)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
“Magicka is a game that works especially well in cooperation. Single player experience is a good one but this game shows its true potential only when you play with friends, allowing for some great fun. A patched-up Magicka is most certainly worth getting to know. Even more, because it is a solid candidate for 2011's best game in its category.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Arrowhead Studios came up with a marvelous game, but the company's excitement in rushing it to the market often creates more problems than they're worth.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“The fact that, at the time of writing, Magicka had surpassed 150,000 sales, is just a testament to how fun and addictive the core game really is. Now that most of the major hiccups out of the way, this is definitely a must-buy game, but it really needs to be experienced to get how much fun it is.”
read full review ↗ - 67
“To be fair, Paradox and Arrowhead are doing a lot of work to fix the game's issues and it is, as of this writing, in a far better state than when it shipped, but the fact remains that my group has suffered crashes at the end of three separate chapters, which forces a complete chapter redo, and as cute as Magicka is, that's not funny. ”
read full review ↗ - 79
“Forget everything you knew about role playing, Magicka takes you beyond that.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“It's long, it's tough, it's huge fun, and it's cheap. But it will never be perfect.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Despite a lot of bugs and some off-putting quirks, Magicka is still a good action role-playing game.”
read full review ↗ - 82
“Magicka might not be a perfect game concerning technical standards but is a total must have for every geek out there. The game is best played together with up to three friends, which is suported in all of the three gamemodes adventure, survival and versus.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“A game that glorifies the use of fireballs and land mines. #WIN.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Exciting to play with friends, utilising a clever, magic system that makes you think. [Apr 2011, p.54]”
- 75
“Ultimately though, I can only recommend you Magicka. At 10 euro it's a good offer and the closest thing to PC Mortal Kombat; sporting spells, monsters and Scandinavian heroes, but with that drive to learn combos and experiment. ”
read full review ↗ - 69
“Confused and buggy, but very entertaining under the right circumstances. Bring friends.”
read full review ↗
GRYOnline.pl
The A.V. Club
GameWatcher
Eurogamer
GameSpot
PC Gamer…and 31 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Patch 1.9.3.8 - New in-game events!Nov 16, 2018
- Patch 1.9.1.10Sep 24, 2018
- Patch Notes for 1.9.0.2Aug 9, 2018
- Magicka version 1.8.0.8 Patch NotesJul 17, 2018
- Magicka version 1.7.1.5 Patch NotesJul 3, 2018
- Patch 1.6.4.2 is liveJun 7, 2018
- Patch 1.6.4.0 is live - Now with Hot JoinMay 28, 2018
- FREE "Spell Again...Again!" Update for Magicka 2 (and some snazzy new DLC)Sep 15, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- FREE "Spell Again...Again!" Update for Magicka 2 (and some snazzy new DLC)Sep 15, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- New patch for Magicka: Wizard Wars is LIVE now!Apr 14, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- New patch for Magicka: Wizard Wars is LIVE now!Apr 14, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- Magicka: Wizard Wars Officially Launches on April 28!Apr 9, 2015significant · resets scoring window
- Magicka: Wizard Wars Officially Launches on April 28!Apr 9, 2015significant · resets scoring window