MagicCraft

Overview

MagicCraft is a multiplayer PvP MOBA game, in this case a minionless MOBA. The game is available to be played on both PC and Mobile. My experience of the game has been entirely on PC, with that I would highly suggest that in the current state, another game in very early stages of testing, it is best suited to mobile. This is not a bad thing, more so due to the simplicity to get into the game and the variety of actions required by the player.

Gameplay

There is no gold, nor shop for buying items to improve certain aspects of your hero in MagicCraft. It is my hope that this kind of variation is introduced into the game in the future as it really allows players to enjoy heroes the way they want to play them opposed to being forced to play the heroes that already only fit their preferred playstyle. Along with the lack of gold and item shops, there is a less variety of moves required.

Whilst the amount of abilities are lower, as opposed to the rather standard four hero ability and two summoner spells present in the likes of DotA 2 or League of Legends, MagicCraft features an auto attack and two hero abilities as your main control scheme. Although this might seem a bit too primitive, the development team have integrated some unique movement mechanics which leaves room for skill expression and skill ceiling to those who want to put the time in to master it. The movement is not a direct point-and-click, instead it is entirely controlled by the player through the common WASD style. This can certainly help with the frustration of dying to bad pathing in other MOBAs.

In addition to that, there is the dodge roll ability where you become invulnerable for a short period. The word "invulnerable" alone in a MOBA can make for some spectacular hero plays. The current mode across the existing maps is capture and hold the points. Although having different maps is a very welcome change MagicCraft is bringing to the MOBA genre, compared to LoL or DotA with their singular map, it is my hope that with the remaining planned game modes revolve around the traditional concept of a MOBA and introduce minions and other familiar mechanics.

The graphics and maneuverability within each map in MagicCraft is also a nice change from the norm with the map not happening all at one elevation, but instead a mixture of areas of high and low ground. With fourteen heroes currently available you are very likely to find a few that fit your playstyle, obviously any MOBA requires a lot of balancing to get it right, so at the current stage of development, you are likely to experience heroes that feel near useless and those that you'll be claiming are overpowered, and are probably right whilst the balancing continues.

One main point that can be frustrating with all the heroes in MagicCraft is their move speed, as there is currently no shop or items some of the heroes feel woefully slow compared to the abilities. The same can be said for some of the projectile abilities, which take far too long to land compared to their AoE and the enemies' movement speed, as they leisurely stroll out of its intended damage zone.

Review

Whilst there are 14 heroes available, the matchmaking mode MagicCraft currently has to offer is Blind Pick. Unfortunately, there is leaves plenty of opportunity for mirror match-ups, and even duplicates within the same team. Whilst the hero pool is still relatively small, this doesn't seem like too much of an issue to me personally, especially as you can crank up the player number to a massive fourteen vs fourteen blood bath of a match.

With further development, MagicCraft is definitely poised to be an enjoyable watch for a competitive tournament or a livestreamed event. Even just while play testing at this early stage, the opportunity for esports can be easily capitalized and built upon as the core offering of the game.