Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
Game
Game2016
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Developer Troika Games
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is a 2001 role-playing video game developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra On-Line for Microsoft Windows. The game's story takes place within a fantasy setting currently undergoing a transformation from its own Industrial Revolution, in which magic competes against technological gadgets, and focuses on the efforts of a zeppelin crash survivor to find out who… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
329 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
92
LovedLoved
165 positive · 15 negative
95% range 87–95%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 165 | 15 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 39 | 5 | 78 |
| Lemmy * | 4 | 1 | 18 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
1,192 of 1,357 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
92% recommend · 162 yes, 15 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 177 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (1,786 of 1,995 positive).
Players praise the game's deep story, worldbuilding, and freedom, but note it requires patience and modding. [1][2][3] Many reviewers highlight the need for unofficial patches to fix crashes and compatibility issues. [4][5][6] Some players call it a cult classic with unique character systems and a memorable soundtrack. [1][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [15]
I do not recommend this game on Steam. It's much easier to tweak, finetune, and otherwise modify (which you will need to do) from GOG Galaxy. Once you get it from GOGG and get it up and running, you're in for one of the deepest, most interesting CRPGs; it almost rivals PlaneScape: Torment in its story depth. So buy it! Just not on Steam
- [1]
This game gave me one of the greatest gaming memories of my childhood. I never actually finished it myself, but i watched my dad complete it multiple times. That didn’t matter to me - I got so much enjoyment simply from exploring and LIVING in its world. I remember being on a family vacation and, instead of enjoying it, i was DAYDREAMING about all the things i’d do in Arcanum once I got back home. And don’t even get …
- [2]
This game feels outdated and rough around the edges, but it still delivers the depth and freedom you expect from a classic CRPG. If you can live with the clunkiness, it is easy to get pulled into a rare, unforgettable RPG world.
- [3]
Would I reccomend Arcanum? Ehhhh, it's complicated. I'm leaning towards Yes, but only if you meet a few criteria: - You enjoy Fallout 1 & 2 and wish to have a similar itch scratched (as the game was made with Tim Cain as project lead, in a very similar engine.) - Combat is not very important to you and you're willing to slog through it. - You don't mind long paragraphs of text. If you meet those criteria, you will …
- [8]
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura stands as one of the most ambitious CRPGs ever created, a sprawling experiment that throws players into a world where industrial progress collides violently with ancient sorcery. The game opens in dramatic fashion: you awaken as the lone survivor of a fiery zeppelin crash, entrusted by a dying stranger with a mysterious ring and a plea that sets a grand mystery in motion. …
Summarised from 34 of the 306 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura talk about rich worldbuilding and immersive atmosphere; those who didn't talk about requires unofficial patches to run properly. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Writing for GameSpot, Desslock reported that Arcanum "sold very well" in the United States during its initial weeks, but "faded" from the charts afterward. The game entered NPD Intelect's computer game sales rankings at #4 for the week ending August 25. It fluctuated between positions four and five for another two weeks, before exiting the weekly charts in the September 9–15 period. Arcanum was the United States' 11th-best-selling computer game for the month of September, and totaled domestic sales of 69,522 units by the first week of November. According to Chart-Track, Arcanum was also September's 10th-highest computer game seller in the United Kingdom. Remarking upon its chart position,…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 329 · most liked firstWhat game do you personally have the most hours played in?. I'm curious what game you guys have sunk the most hours into. Mine has to be RuneScape, I don't know the total hours because I've had so many accounts over the years I don't even remember half my passwords, but it's definitely in the thousands of hours now. I've played on/off RS2, OSRS, and RS3 since 2004. I've also probably sunk anywhere from hundreds to 1000+ hours into Skyrim and Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura, though…
neutral · AI labelView post →When High Fantasy meets Vernian Steampunk: Arcanum: of Steamworks & Magic Obscura. (2001) Troika Games' first game, one of three they'd develop in their short life, taking the narrative freedom of Fallout 1 & 2 and applying it to a world steeped in magic and industry.
neutral · AI labelView post →My favourite example is Arcanum: of steamworks and magic obscura, a PC RPG, which had both magic and tech. Unless you took the magick allergy background, which meant you couldn't use magic. It turns out that this means you can't equip a plot critical amulet, so you can't finish the game.
negative · AI labelView post →Arcanum is a 24 years old game and its incredibly short opening before the real opening was honestly peak aesthetic. When I say I want more guns in fantasy setting, this is the image that comes up in my head.
positive · AI labelView post →Qintarra Game: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Dev: Troika Games 🇺🇸 Release: August 21, 2001 🥳🎂
neutral · AI labelView post →Tulla Game: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Dev: Troika Games 🇺🇸 Release: August 21, 2001
neutral · AI labelView post →Dernholm Game: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Dev: Troika Games 🇺🇸 Release: August 21, 2001
neutral · AI labelView post →I do not recommend this game on Steam. It's much easier to tweak, finetune, and otherwise modify (which you will need to do) from GOG Galaxy. Once you get it from GOGG and get it up and running, you're in for one of the deepest, most interesting CRPGs; it almost rivals PlaneScape: Torment in its story depth. So buy it! Just not on Steam
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While playing Do NOT ALT+TAB or your game will be broken you won't even be able to save, the save gets currupted if you try to save you'll lose progress just because the game gets broken the moment you alt+tab.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of my favorite gameplay and narrative connections is in the game Arcanum - a wizard rapidly becomes a nearly godlike power in the battlefield, while a technologist never quite gets as powerful …but the technologist can give the entire party his steampunk power armor and railguns
positive · AI labelView post →Shrouded Hills Game: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Dev: Troika Games 🇺🇸 Release: August 21, 2001 Screenshot by FrenchCat
neutral · AI labelView post →Game - Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura Song- Tarant Year - 2001 Developer-Troika Games Genre - CRPG Composer-Ben Houge
neutral · AI labelView post →Troika's RPG, Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura, had a number of themed ads promoting a world welding together a steampunk-styled Industrial Revolution and spells like this two-pager from 2000 featuring a mage leaning against a wall with a zeppelin in the sky behind him.
neutral · AI labelView post →This game gave me one of the greatest gaming memories of my childhood. I never actually finished it myself, but i watched my dad complete it multiple times. That didn’t matter to me - I got so much enjoyment simply from exploring and LIVING in its world. I remember being on a family vacation and, instead of enjoying it, i was DAYDREAMING about all the things i’d do in Arcanum once I got back home. And don’t even get me started on what i truly believe is one of the GREATEST gaming soundtracks…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My favorite part is the installers. I just installed a 2004 sierra game (Arcanum - very hard solo, def made for co-op) and the installer threw me back to the early noughties, and it was just lovely. That green progress bar and the wildly outdated game ads were hugely pleasing.
positive · AI labelView post →something I adore about the game Arcanum: of steamwork and magick obsucra is how the central plot involves events from 2,000 years ago, but 99.9999% of the game is deeply and intimately related to stuff that happened in the past 50 years
positive · AI labelView post →Artfight 2025 Attack 1: "Fancy Portrait of the Living One" artfight.net/attack/97000... The lovely Yvon Chu for @ammonoideas.bsky.social #Art #ArtFight #Artfight2025 #TeamCrystals #Arcanum #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
neutral · AI labelView post →"Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura" DESERVES a remaster. WITHOUT changing the story to suit "modern audiences".
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New version of Arcanum voice mod is out! 22 characters voiced by 13 actors, including myself. It really feels like a new game. www.nexusmods.com/arcanumofste...
neutral · AI labelView post →By the way, the ultimate goal of the mod is to voice every single Arcanum NPC, all 900 of them! If achieved, the amount of VA in the mod will rival AAA games like Skyrim. The project needs you. Have zero experience? Think your recording setup is not good enough? We'd still like to hear your voice.
neutral · AI labelView post →I played the entire game on a Steam Deck using the unofficial patch 2.0.2. The original version launches and runs fine. I had to make a few adjustments to install the patch and add custom portraits, but it wasn't anything complicated. It's unclear why the game is labeled as unplayable on the Steam Deck. Overall, it's a fantastic adventure created by talented and intelligent people, which is a rarity in the video game industry.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some concept sketches for my dnd setting, Blackwell! Lotta inspiration from Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. Love that game to death and wanna take the ideas and run with them for my own setting. So hopefully you'll be seeing more of it and my ocs (who I hope you all love) place in it!
positive · AI labelView post →Aether & Iron, a Decopunk Narrative RPG set in an alternate 1930s where anti-gravitational technology has taken cars, roads, and even New York City into the sky, released on Steam.    **Reviews:** [PCGamer - Aether & Iron review -…
neutral · AI labelView post →The pitch started out because I went "I would like to make an RPG that surpasses Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and Fallout 2, but it needs to actually feel good as hell to play" and we made a world and narrative and some game design shit that's... gonna do WEIRD shit to your brain. :)
positive · AI labelView post →kill gnomes, behead gnomes, roundhouse kick a gnome into the concrete, slam dunk a gnome baby into the trash can, crucify filthy gnomes, defecate in a gnomes food, launch gnomes into the sun, stir fry gnomes in a wok, toss gnomes into active volcanoes, urinate into gnome's gas tank, judo throw gnomes into a wood chipper, twist gnomes heads off, report gnomes to the IRS, karate chop gnomes in half, curb stomp pregnant gnomes, trap gnomes in quicksand, crush gnomes in the trash compactor, liquify…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →favorite fantasy video game settings masterlist is now Eora Terratus Arcanum Tamriel Faerun Golarion
neutral · AI labelView post →Aether & Iron, a Decopunk Narrative RPG set in an alternate 1930s where anti-gravitational technology has taken cars, roads, and even New York City into the sky, released on Steam.    **Reviews:** [PCGamer - Aether & Iron review -…
neutral · AI labelView post →"I...uh hereby dedicate, no, uhm...commit my life to the Living One." - Virgil On January 1, 1885, the Living One's wondrous journey across a land of steamworks and magick obscura began in flames and prophecy~ #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
neutral · AI labelView post →Play Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, I'm beggin' y'all. It's cheap & just needs the unofficial patch~ GOG: www.gog.com/en/game/arca... Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/500810/A... Unofficial Arcanum Patch: terra-arcanum.com/drog/uap.html UAP install guide video: youtu.be/pKgvwCiAmac?...
positive · AI labelView post →🔮 New Release! 🔮 Idylwild’s Arcanum: magical items for your game! -Staves, wands, potions & crystals -Runestones, scrolls, grimoires & more -Perfect for RPGs & fantasy worlds 🔗 Browse here: idylwild.itch.io/idylwilds-ar... opengameart.org/content/idyl... #PixelArt #GameAssets #IndieGameDev #Free
neutral · AI labelView post →I miss physical game manuals for the weird stuff like this that they’d throw in there. The Arcanum manual had cool art and like themed cooking recipes and shit
positive · AI labelView post →Imagine Arcanum being your first crpg and your first exposure to steampunk. This game one-shotted my little ass.
positive · AI labelView post →This game feels outdated and rough around the edges, but it still delivers the depth and freedom you expect from a classic CRPG. If you can live with the clunkiness, it is easy to get pulled into a rare, unforgettable RPG world.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, it was made by alumni of Interplay. The developers also made Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, which probably is why it gets overshadowed. Anyways gameplay is effected by build, equipment, and even race because of course it is this is a game made by Fallout 2 devs. If that sounds interesting but not convincing go watch Mandaloregaming, Warlockracy, or Ssethtzeentach for better reasons, though if you aren't familiar with any or all of the YouTubers…
neutral · AI labelView post →I wanted to draw Rí'an in an outfit more closely based on her in-game equipment, mixed with Victorian sportswear because she's gotta be fit for adventure! 💪 #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
neutral · AI labelView post →Hey Everyone Lots of new faces! I'm Brandon, the founder of Star Anvil Studios. We would love to hear any questions you have about our game lines. Go ahead ask us! The Secret World, Starbreaker, Knights Arcanum, Dominions of Steel. Lots done and more to come.
neutral · AI labelView post →Saying Planescape: Torment has the greatest story ever told in an RPG is like saying water is wet. It's almost annoying to read at this point because it has been declared ad nauseam, but truly I can not go a week without thinking about the game narratively and thematically. The same thing for me applies to Arcanum here as well. It lead me to think about Role-Playing Games in regard to narrative itself. The recent gold-standard champion for so many being Baldur's Gate 3. I don't think Baldur's…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A lovely character redesign commission for @stellastra.bsky.social 🫶 This was fun and sweet- we did a reinterpretation of an npc from the game Arcanum. | #myart #art #commission #artcommission #characterdesign |
neutral · AI labelView post →I enjoyed my time overall, but its hard to recommend Arcanum. I needed to download 2 different patches to get it running properly, and even then it would still crash or freeze sometimes. The start is also extremely rough and its very hard to find resources to figure out a functional build. Even if you do, the beginning is not intuitive and its very hard to know what to do or where to go, so its not surprising that most people just give up in the beginning. I would not recommend this game to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Would I reccomend Arcanum? Ehhhh, it's complicated. I'm leaning towards Yes, but only if you meet a few criteria: - You enjoy Fallout 1 & 2 and wish to have a similar itch scratched (as the game was made with Tim Cain as project lead, in a very similar engine.) - Combat is not very important to you and you're willing to slog through it. - You don't mind long paragraphs of text. If you meet those criteria, you will absolutely love Arcanum. It's a rich world full of lore and intrigue…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An outfit commission done for @stellastra.bsky.social ✨ This was very fun, we worked on an outfit redesign for Raven- a companion npc from the game Arcanum. | #art #myart #commission #arcanum #artcommission |
neutral · AI labelView post →A doodle drawn to answer a tumblr ask. Sorry, Charlie. No mercy for ungrateful bastards, even in death. #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
neutral · AI labelView post →Eh. As someone who plays MANY games, I can't say that I agree with the notion of old games being inherently better. The interface, bugginess, or lack of QOL often hamstrings the experience. IMO, it would be best if old games are remade. Arcanum is a pain in the rear, because the text and images can be small on my monitor, plus crashing if I click too quickly. Technical issues are my #1 killer of games, because it takes the wind out of my sails if I try to get into something.
negative · AI labelView post →I played Arcanum for the first time when I was 14 - way back when the game first game out, around 2004. It was on CD and I had the manual. My first somewhat woeful run at the game was as a half-orc technologist. In this game, if you get a high technical aptitude, people comment on it.
neutral · AI labelView post →9 years ago I got to hang out with Tim Cain, co-creator of Fallout, Arcanum, and The Outer Worlds, which are three of my favourite games. Fallout especially is one of the reasons I wanted to be a game developer. So awesome.
neutral · AI labelView post →post-game nonsense #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
neutral · AI labelView post →✨ I spent the last ~2 weeks diving headfirst into low-level game dev and accidentally wrote an isometric game engine from scratch. #Rust + #raylib only. Inspired by Fallout & Arcanum. #gamedev #indiegame
neutral · AI labelView post →WARNING: THIS GAME REQUIRES YOU TO REALLY ENJOY GRINDY OLD RPGs That said, this game is EXCELENT. The Character Systems are unique and interlocked, The world is greatly full of secrets, great writing, cool side experiences and a world full of lore that really felt alive, for its time. I am blown away by the layers of writing and hidden text options for a game of this age. It really attempted to push the envelope on what a cRPG. I secretly hope someone picks up and runs with the IP since it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am informed that the solution to all my problems in this game, much like Arcanum and reality, is a gun. Need to see if the NRA is in the credits. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to the Arcanum soundtrack. I should do that.
neutral · AI labelView post →are YOU making a game and want to put a tarot deck in it? consider : the Arcade Arcanum licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, you can these cards for personal and professional works, remix, whatever! modernmodron.itch.io/the-arcade-a...
neutral · AI labelView post →Virgil's rambling at the start of the game is so funny to me if you play as an elf (or half-elf). #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
neutral · AI labelView post →btw, i've actually gone through and tried a bunch of Arcanum builds that are less optimal or weird and...honestly, if you know the game well, you can make a shocking amount of things work really well
positive · AI labelView post →My favorite game of all times and probably the only one that I replay every damn year (there are hundreds of hours I spent playing it throughout my life). Bought it on steam just to respect it by having in my library. Now, I admit there is a significant nostalgia factor, but still - this game is a cult classic ama lemme tell you why. It has a good, intricate story, exquisite dialogues (they are very rarely voiced but the quality of voice acting is top notch), interesting characters to meet…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game if you can get it working, just some tips to get it running. Install unofficial patch, set the ini to 1920x1080 and run the install bat, then rename ddraw to 000, then set monitor to 60hz or lower and 1920x1080, restart PC then try to run it, that's the only way I've been able to get this game to run consistently, also turn off G-sync on your monitor if it's on.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I colored the grayscale follower portraits shown in Prima's Official Strategy Guide for Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura~ The individual portraits can be viewed here: imgur.com/a/arcanum-of... #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
neutral · AI labelView post →One of the best RPG's of all time. Don't play vanilla though, Drog's UAP is the way to go.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Warhammer Fantasy Battle 8th Ed July 2011 "Storm of Magic" supplement and Monstrous Arcanum 2012 books finally had Fimir stats again for WFB. Total War: Warhammer 2016 video game also included Fimir in official Games Workshop publications. Lots of fan based Fimir material+minis have been made 23/24🧵
neutral · AI labelView post →beneath the roughness of Arcanum lies a brilliant story, revealed by peeling back the silent layers of its immensely rich worldbuilding. it is a shame that this mystery is oftentimes lost in the game’s excessively unrestricted combat and exploration systems
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Random shot from the character creation menu for New Arc Line, a steampunk game a bit like Arcanum in that its a technology vs. magic situation.
neutral · AI labelView post →Even though the graphics are outdated, I keep coming back to this game. It was ahead of its time when it comes to offering different choices and routes to the player.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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