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Game
Game2022
Mago
Developer Dream Potion Games
Mago is a retro 2D platformer that puts us in the boots of a sorcerer, who was unfortunate enough to eat evil overlords' food. Now he has to rescue his beloved princess from the dinner menu of the evil Gourmet! Nostalgia awaits! From the Steam store page
160 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
80
LovedLoved
102 positive · 25 negative
95% range 73–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 102 | 25 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 4 | 0 | 25 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 4 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
129 of 155 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
82% recommend · 111 yes, 25 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 136 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (984 of 1,057 positive).
Players praise Mago for its nostalgic SNES-era style and charming pixel art. [1][2][3] Some reviewers find the game frustrating due to unfair mechanics and poor checkpoint placement. [4][5][6] A few players criticize the Capytower stages as tedious and game-ruining. [7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [8]
I really want to like this game... But the Capytower stages are horrible, and the ruin any fun the game has to offer. If you don't know what they are, they a special stage in every world that's just 8 smaller segments that are randomly picked from a number of rooms (different per world), that can be "kill all enemies", "make it to the end", "collect all red orbs within a time", "survive for a certain amouth of time" …
- [2]
This game is a masterpiece. If you told me this was actually a long lost SNES game that used the same chip that was inside Super Mario World 2, I would believe it without question. It perfectly captures all the things that made original SNES games classics: The art, the music, the way the game feels... it's clear these folks did their research. My only real beef is I wish the game was harder. Just a little too easy …
- [4]
Super fun game, though it can be a little rough around the edges and a little bit unforgiving. The game has almost no written text/dialogue except for level names, so you'll find items or meet NPCs and have zero idea what any of them do until you just kind of figure it out after a few hours. Checkpoints in levels are either weirdly frequent or INCREDIBLY spread out, and instant deaths from pits or lava will probably …
- [10]
Mago is a delightful and charming action platformer that does nearly everything right but has a handful of issues that lead to player frustration. Positives: -Lovely art style. -Quality OST. -Two-button old-school core gameplay design that isn't lacking for fun despite its simplicity. -Numerous gimmick stages and "minigame houses" that provide variety and a change-of-pace from the traditional stages. -Tons of …
- [1]
Mago is a very well made indie 2D platformer. The story is simple but quaint, you’re trying to save your girlfriend/princess from an alien who wants to use her as the main ingredient in a burger. You’ll be running, jumping, and firing your magic wand through different biomes such as forests themed to tea pots, snow mountains that are ravaged by dinosaurs, and steampunk swamps. The overall package here feels pretty …
Summarised from 34 of the 163 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 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Mago sits at 80% positive across 127 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 160 · most liked firstIn the indie game "Mago", the characters Dalv and Mo from the fangame Undertale Yellow can be found as cameos.
neutral · AI labelView post →Mago is a very well made indie 2D platformer. The story is simple but quaint, you’re trying to save your girlfriend/princess from an alien who wants to use her as the main ingredient in a burger. You’ll be running, jumping, and firing your magic wand through different biomes such as forests themed to tea pots, snow mountains that are ravaged by dinosaurs, and steampunk swamps. The overall package here feels pretty good quality. The smooth pixel graphic animations are decent, the soundtrack…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a masterpiece. If you told me this was actually a long lost SNES game that used the same chip that was inside Super Mario World 2, I would believe it without question. It perfectly captures all the things that made original SNES games classics: The art, the music, the way the game feels... it's clear these folks did their research. My only real beef is I wish the game was harder. Just a little too easy in comparison to the games it's taking inspiration from. At the moment, I'm…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is yet another game I feel needs a "mixed" recommendation option, although I put it in "not recommended" because I'm leaning just a bit more to that side, and it hurts me to say that. Mago is a game that did so many things right, that *could* have been a great game, but it ultimately made a number of design decisions that I feel wound up hurting it overall. At its base, Mago is a simple platforming game akin to a 2D Mario game, where you travel through several colorful levels connected by…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really want to like this game... But the Capytower stages are horrible, and the ruin any fun the game has to offer. If you don't know what they are, they a special stage in every world that's just 8 smaller segments that are randomly picked from a number of rooms (different per world), that can be "kill all enemies", "make it to the end", "collect all red orbs within a time", "survive for a certain amouth of time" or "a chace sequence". They're tedious (you have to beat them atleast 4…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mago is a fantastic 'Game Boy' style platform adventure game, with simple 2 button controls (meaning jump, shoot and hold shoot to run faster) and a 'zoomed in' perspective. As you play and acquire collectables, you will upgrade your health / your wand will get increased range and coverage / and you will get new character skins. Now in this type of game, execution is everything and Mago does it right! Controls are super-tight to near perfect. Graphics and sound / music are excellent across…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[table noborder=1] Video review: [url=https://youtu.be/CQXf-S1sNtE] https://youtu.be/CQXf-S1sNtE [table noborder=1] * Fun nostalgic 2D platformer * Different types of levels (time trials and auto-run challenges) * Various enemies and mechanics * Hidden areas with collectibles * Beautiful pixel art * Great soundtrack * Some weird level design choices * (Probably irrelevant: I lost all my progress, but played a pre-release build)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I somehow missed this PS3/X360-era Arc System Works anime license game: Nurarihyon no Mago: Hyakki Ryouran Taisen. It's got great art direction, beautiful environment art, and clean Blazblue-style 3D-referenced 2D sprites youtu.be/h8KVq0y0nag Makes me yearn for a new Samurai Shodown in this style 💭
neutral · AI labelView post →Great: - The art and visual design is top-tier. - The music is great. - It's nostalgic. - Cool little things like bird races and challenge versions of bosses. - Beating a level feels like an accomplishment. - The world is appealing. - Each level has high replay value. Okay: - You will die and need to memorize the level or set of moves to continue, just like in the era that the game successfully emulates. Bad: - The controls tend to be slippery and leave you with too much or too little…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First impressions: very fun platformer very reminiscent of Super Mario World but instead of playing as a plumber trying to rescue a princess, you are a sorcerer trying to rescue a sorceress from what appears to be an flying illusionist or magician. Runs great on my Steam Deck.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Super fun game, though it can be a little rough around the edges and a little bit unforgiving. The game has almost no written text/dialogue except for level names, so you'll find items or meet NPCs and have zero idea what any of them do until you just kind of figure it out after a few hours. Checkpoints in levels are either weirdly frequent or INCREDIBLY spread out, and instant deaths from pits or lava will probably make up a majority of your deaths which can lead to some slogs trying to get…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mago is quite an interesting game. I have only played one Kirby game in my life and it gave me similar vibes with a few differences. The levels had a few difficult variety's whether it was straight up platforming and fighting enemies or racing as a transformed creature, it also offered a gauntlet in different sections that you complete for a prize, which i could never finish even though i did try. The music and art style gives you a very nostalgic feeling. The bosses which appear at the end of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hmmm... very nice. ███████████████████░░░░████ █████████████████░░░░░░░██████ █████████░░░████░░░░░░░░░█░░░██ ████████░█░░░█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██ ███████░███░░░╬╬╬░░░░░░░░░░██ ███████░███░░░█╬╬╬░░░░░░░░░██ ██████░█████░░░█╬╬╬╬░░░░░░░██ ███░░░████████░░██╬╬╬░░░░░███ ████░░█████████░░░█╬╬╬░░░██ █████░██████████░░░██╬╬░██ ██████░░░████████░░░░█╬░██ ████████░███┼███┼██░░░░░██ ████████░█║█┼┼█║█┼███░░░░██ ███████░░█║╬┼┼╬║┼┼█████░░░██ ████████░░┼┼┼┼┼┼┼███┼┼█▒█░░██ █████████░█┼┼██████┼┼█▒▒▒░░██…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This one rather annoys me as I was looking forward to playing this after playing the demo through Next Fest. Mago is, unfortunately, a nice looking and sounding 2D platformer that is brought down by its design issues. The game has a "show, don't tell" approach with its mechanics. That's well and good but it doesn't do a good job at *explaining* what things are. Here's some of the inconveniences you'll run into: -There's a double jump but it only works after bouncing off an enemy's head.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i have a formative memory of hanging out with a friend who somehow lucked into footage from tougeki SBO CFJ around that time and had to counterbalance how much fun I thought Mago and Tokido made it look to me versus the absolute dire way SRK would talk about the game like it killed someone
neutral · AI labelView post →ℕ𝕠𝕨 𝕀 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕠 𝕚𝕤 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕞'𝕤 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕊𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕠! Let me start off by saying WOW, just WoW! This is exactly what I picture Mario to look like and play like had it been invented by Indie Games on Steam rather than Nintendo! In Mago, you control the very enthusiastic mage aptly called Mago, who, after Gourmet the evil Masked Puppet steals Magella (I just came up with that name), who's basically Princess Peach, Mago must travel the world…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am having a really bad phase right now. However, I played this game, since 2022 and it helped to stay motivated, to comfort me and inspired me to create art. Please experience this magnum opus of indie Jump n`runs. The sprites are beautiful. The level design is near perfect. The score is amazing. The creativity is off the wall and it features the fantstic bosses and the literal BEST final boss in all of gaming. Play it for your sanity. It will only enrich you. Thank you, each and every…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not enough checkpoints Recommended if you don't mind pain
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was so frustrating to play. Maybe I'm just bad at this game in particular and it's a skill issue but so many levels had me pissed off. Unfair mechanics and bad level design made it hard to enjoy this game. For the most part I was not having fun and just trying to get through the game. At least the pixel art is great and the music is fantastic because I would've given up otherwise. I will also say the last world was actually pretty fun for the most part. But that's not good enough to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm not sure what I was expecting based on the promotional material but this is one of the most bland platformers I've played in some time. Nearly every aspect of the game is highly forgettable and fails to stand out as worth of my time in a sea of other indie platformers. The game's soundtrack and pixel art are decent enough to almost warrant a recommendation, but the play experience is dragged down by a lot of small annoyances. Some of which are: * Character movement feels slightly stiff,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mago is a delightful and charming action platformer that does nearly everything right but has a handful of issues that lead to player frustration. Positives: -Lovely art style. -Quality OST. -Two-button old-school core gameplay design that isn't lacking for fun despite its simplicity. -Numerous gimmick stages and "minigame houses" that provide variety and a change-of-pace from the traditional stages. -Tons of collectibles for completionists and/or collectathon enthusiasts. -Health and attack…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a very good game, maybe too good, the sound and music is good, the art is good, the animations are good and the gameplay is good. It also makes me very happy somehow, it's like the game radiates happiness just by running it. Help, I may be going crazy, sometimes when I'm not playing I can hear on random occasions that little tune that little blue fairies do when there's a secret nearby, and it makes me want to hit a wall to see if there's a secret behind.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unskippable intro cutscenes for sections that require multiple retries really kill the pacing. The store system is confusing, and I kept having to backtrack just to save the game there's only one save point on the world map, and it's a full minute away. The shadow race level had zero room for error, which felt punishing rather than challenging. Too often, I was hit by enemies or bullets that came from off-screen, and the controls didn’t feel responsive or precise enough to deal with it. I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sorry, I haven't posted much in Bluesky, but now I'm just gonna post some art here. So I drew Conejo Cuentín and Mago Nombrón in my artstyle since Abrapalabra's my favourite game! #abrapalabra
neutral · AI labelView post →If you are a fan of platformers then you should definitely try it. If not think it twice because you will probably end up frustrated. I personally enjoyed it very much .
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →nonsensical controls (having the default run button be a face button you have to hold down while also using another face button to jump, binding the run button in with the attack button for no reason despite having about ten other buttons on a controller you could use--not even taking into account keyboard controls) doom this game. as cute as its pixel art is, its controls are just so unbearable. not only that, but there is a fatal error upon attempting to run the game the first time, which…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I find it hard to recommend this. At the same time, I will continue playing it, but my patience runs thin, quickly. I like the graphics; not the best I've seen in this type of game but they are nice and they don't distract really. I am not digging the atmosphere much, but that's not really a reason to not buy the game. I hate the sound design, it becomes fatiguing very quickly. NONE OF THE ABOVE MATTER! What matters is the gameplay which is unacceptably bad. 1. Your character moves like a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mago is an interesting retro platformer that has an interesting vibe somewhere between SNES era Mario & Kirby games - with really nice graphics and music to boot. Overall though I give a tentative "thumbs up" thanks to a day zero patch that fixed a number of my original gripes with it. Basically it's a 6.5/10 or 7/10 now. Pros: - Great Graphics & Animations - Really poppy and enjoyable music reminiscent of retro platformers - Some interesting bosses/animations - Decent Level Variety (few…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mago looks like exactly the sort of thing that I should love, but the controls and questionable enemy placement make it impossible for me to recommend. I made it to level 2-2 before throwing in the towel. Pros: - Looks and sounds great - Lots of variety. In one level you do your typical platforming stuff, in another you are a bird doing an auto runner sort of stage, and in another you are a snowboarding penguin blasting other penguins. Neutral: - Game difficulty seems like a decent challenge…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →good platformer game, but not without some caveats - screen resolution is crazy low, even lower than on NES, so it's more like Gameboy Advance game - cloud saves are not supported - game doesn't remember the "full screen" option
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really fun platformer with a unique zoomed-in style. Everything seems large and up close. Lots of level and mechanic variety. Not as challenging and mathematical as Celeste, but a very fun and addicting time. Great upgrade/collecting loop that encourages multiple trips to a level, but doesn't completely send you up the wall. Fun boss and unique boss fights as well. Also, the music is GREAT!! I've been humming the main track a lot, feel like i'm losing my mind. Though, it lacks variety in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kind of a strange one. You walk through levels, picking up... things... and use some of those things to buy... other things. You're never told what any of these things are. "I have 2 chocolate truffle looking things, OK I passed 2 to a large chocolate truffle monster, and he gave me a golden moon. What the hell does any of this do? I think this game fell into the trap of "If we make a retro game, it will be cool." instead of taking a step back, and trying to make a complete game experience…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →+Gorgeous pixel art +Controls good -The game has very little text and almost nothing is explained at all. Red tickets? Blue tickets? Do different costumes have any gameplay benefit? What are all these characters in this hub? Why is the hub called Musicila? What is these brown walking turds I have to collect do? When I "redeem" the walking turds what did I just get? What does the blue glowing thing that I collect in every level do? Why can't I buy this thing for 800 orbs when I'm maxed out at…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A genuinely adorable platformer with great visuals and music. I wanna punch whoever made the Capytower stages though. Not only have you made a terrible set of levels that you HAVE to do over and over and over again if you want to 100% this game, but you ruined one of my favourite animals. For shame. Good game tho, pick it up.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was ABSOLUTELY worth the 3 year wait from it's initial reveal! For anyone looking for a good indie platformer that'll keep you entertained for at least a full day's worth of time (around 24 hours over multiple play sessions) this is the game for you. Gameplay: The game has very simplistic controls overall, with really only 3 inputs needed to play the game: movement, jumping, and magic/interact. however, the levels where the game puts you as "transformations" are really neat and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm really sorry, but I have to leave a negative review. It's very obvious that this game is a work of passion, coming from a developer who loved NES/GBC platformers. The art style, the little animations, the attention to detail... this game oozes charm. Which, unfortunately, makes it even more jarring when you realise how many shortcomings are present in it. First and foremost, the game loves to waste your time. You can notice it as soon as you get into one of the large, empty overworlds,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mago has beautiful pixel art, and while the flashing lights are annoying and mostly unnecessary, that's easily fixed with an accessibility option being added, should the dev choose to. The music is absolutely fantastic, especially the themes for the final boss and shadow chases, no complaints. Sound effects are also nice, with no standout exceptions either way. The plot is simple, but serviceable, with even a little room to interpret certain characters. Speaking of, though there aren't many,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Appleseed's Indie Game Of The Day! Day 193) Mago by Dream Potion Games A retro style 2D platformer where you play as a sorcerer trying to save the princess. There's all sorts of neat mini games and play styles, all set to a wonderful retro pixel artstyle!
neutral · AI labelView post →Doing another Demo Showcase this week, this time featuring MINDWAVE & AI Limit! Trying a new game I got because you play as a wizard that wears blue and that appealed to me for some reason. It's Mago! And the road to Green Hill continues with even more Sonic Adventure 2! twitch.tv/folkezaubearer
positive · AI labelView post →If you see this quote it! Country- 🏳️🌈 Height- 2 Age- 23 Loves- Romance, Eating chicken and Batman Hates- Biggots, Mago de Oz (band) and stuff like that I don't drive Fav drink- Oh, Chocolate Milk Fav game- Monster Prom (whole saga), Cult of the Lamb and Cassette Beasts and pokemon in general
neutral · AI labelView post →game way too hard despite the great pixel art and fun music, this game is made with hardist in mind. do not play this game if you expect a casual platformer just by looking at the art
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I live for 2D platformers, it's such a fun genre to dive into. The super mario and sonic series really carved a path for a lot of indie games being made today. Mago takes inspiration from a lot of different types of retro games. A lot of the simularities feels close to wario land 2, and super mario land games. There were some megaman x inspirations, especially with the mech levels and the snowboarding levels in mago (Reminds me of that auto scroll level in megaman 8). The pixel art in mago is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unskippable intro cutscenes for things that take too many tries, can't figure out how to use the store, kept having to go back to the start to save the game, no room for error in the shadow race level. Couldn't even keep be invested past the 2 hour mark.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mostly the game was actually okay. However there were a few things that just made me not like it. Mainly the boss fights. There are bosses that will just not allow you to hit them for upwards of a minute at a time by just flying off screen or have super long iframes. The platforming is okay. When you are running you kinda feel like you on on ice the entire time. And the check points are inconsistent. In one level you will seemingly get one every 30 feet, but other levels have you going…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →“I honestly never thought it would be a commercial record. I thought it was going to be just a really cool underground album, like ‘Tago Mago’ by Can.” The messy story behind Primal Scream’s game-changing, genre-fluid masterpiece Screamadelica:
neutral · AI labelView post →Mago is getting a massive 'Hyperdelicious' console upgrade The 2022 PC platformer is heading to PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch this winter with a new post-game world and a very fancy physical edition. #Retro #Mago #HyperdeliciousEdition #PS5 #NintendoSwitch
neutral · AI labelView post →A very good, cute 2d platformer that runs very well on Steam Deck. It wears the Super Mario Bros. 3 inspiration on it's sleeve and it has the heart to match. Would recommend!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As someone who has never played actual platformers before, i was hestitant at first at buying this game. I decided to try it anyway and dip my toes in the genre, i played a few levels and it was alright at best. Little did i know the more this game had to offer the worse the design of specificly the boss fights started to get. As of right now i am at the final boss of world 6 and i just cant believe how atrocious the design of this, and as this made me realise, the bosses in general are.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →liked the demo. as the early game progressed, found myself very dissatisfied with how difficulty was handled. there is no traditional life system, so death just resets funds gained. this left me personally feeling like each attempt to beat a stage resulting in death was worth nothing of my time beyond learning what enemies would blindside me. i found enemies to blindside me often. while i am fine with punishing bosses in this setting since retrying is pretty seamless, regular hazards do a third…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fantastic 2D experience and easily one of the best platformers that Steam has to offer! I would recommend it to anyone especially lovers of the Mario franchise.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Charming retro 2D platformer with a solid amount of content and variety in the levels. Gets pretty punishing towards the end but is good fun and has enough charm to keep you playing the whole way through Check out https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41559946 for more recommendations!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is a lot to like about this game, like the pixel art and the music are super good, and a lot of the collectible platforming bits are well done. But there are definitely gripes to be found, mainly in the inconsisent checkpoints. Some levels are entirely too long and have checkpoints oddly placed, or there are long points in the challenge levels that become hard not from the skill you might lack but just from the sheer length and tedium that ensues. There is also a game breaking bug in the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Barrage of tedium that wouldn't have even been good in the era it's trying to ape
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →great art and music! but lots of frustrating moments that bring the experience down for me so far, especially with bosses. even so, it's a fun time overall.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →16 bit goodness with a killer chip tune soundtrack. Very fun game, reminds me a bit of Kirby.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very solid platformer. The colorful pixel levels look great and are fun to play. Enemies varied in both appearance and attack patterns, there are plenty of climbing, moving platforms, fast-paced chases and mini games, attack and accelerate share the same key, so it takes time to master this game. Fast react is a must, in later levels there are descending pillars, jump early you will hit the spikes above and fall off the map, jump late you will not reach the next platform, not to mention the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Drawing inspiration from platforming greats like Shovel Knight and Kirby, Dream Potion Games, ABONICO GAME WORKS, @resistancestudio.bsky.social, @selectaplay.bsky.social’s, and Hidden Trap’s Mago: Hyperdelicious Edition will release for PC/consoles in Q4 2026. www.gamersheroes.com/gaming-news/...
neutral · AI labelView post →Mago: Hyperdelicious Edition is a retro-styled 2D platformer where Shovel Knight meets Kirby. Dream Potion Games joined forces with ABONICO GAME WORKS, @resistancestudio.bsky.social, @selectaplay.bsky.social and Hidden Trap for this project. We are working on the PR, so feel free to send us a DM.
neutral · AI labelView post →Totally underrated Platforming game. This game is short but fun and deserves more attention.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Full of whimsy and joy
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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