Brand-new studio Purpledoor Studios has just released its first project, Magic Inn, which puts the player in the shoes of an exiled wizard who has taken up ownership of a small inn in the hopes of making it the best inn that there ever was. Before the game’s release today, however, I was given the opportunity to try it out and see whether this game is full of magic or if it will fizzle out.
There is Plenty to Manage Within Magic Inn
First and foremost, Magic Inn is a restaurant sim that puts the player in charge of a brand-new inn that has plenty of potential to grow. Whether it be gathering regular customers, expanding your menu, creating rooms for overnight guests, and so on, there is plenty to take care of within Magic Inn, which for some could feel a little overwhelming at first, but after a while, it does get easier.
When it comes to the player running their own inn, there is a fair amount to manage, whether it is ensuring you have the right amount of ingredients, the inn is clean, putting select items on the menu, talking with your customers, or simply serving your customers with the right food. These are all tasks that are managed by the player, and thanks to the game’s simple mechanics, it is as simple as clicking a button.
During my time with Magic Inn, I was able to enjoy managing the inn on its day-to-day business, as serving customers was a breeze. Serving a beer was satisfying, especially with the mini-game, as each drink felt like it had a personal touch. Serving food, either made by myself or the AI assistant, was a breeze and fun to do, and just generally interacting with the customers was a fun addition as well.
I did find, however, that it did become very rushed regarding these mechanics, as there was no time to savor some of these objectives. On numerous occasions, I found myself spamming through the interaction menus to talk to customers, give them complimentary items, ask them to be a VIP, and then finally take their money, and this was just the final interaction, let alone the buildup to this.
Throughout my time with the game, I used the AI assistant to cook the meals while I focused on serving the drinks and customers food, and this was relatively easy for me, but if I were to do this alone, I easily would have become stressed out with the amount of things to track, leading to a lot of lost income.
Understandably, this is part of the challenge within the game, as running your inn through and through like this is essentially what a sim like this is supposed to be about, but for me it felt as though it was a bit too in-depth, as it tried to do too many things at once, most likely leading players who put significant time into the game to likely get bored of the interactions and choose to simply just serve food and drink without customer service.
The World of Magic Inn is Full of Color and Mystery
During my time with Magic Inn, I was able to explore a few different locations filled with characters to meet and resources to acquire. To avoid spoiling the surprise of the locations within Magic Inn, I won’t go into detail regarding the actual locations but will instead discuss more about the general style of the locations themselves.
The biggest draw for each location for me was how each location was vibrant and full of life; even for a relatively small game like this, each location felt as though it was alive and breathing. Talking to each character and using the game’s unique card system to provide me with all kinds of conversation options felt new and interesting as I was able to get to know each character.
For me, the best part about these locations was how detailed they were, as each location was filled with color and decoration that made them look as detailed as they could. A lot of the time, I found myself looking around these locations just to see what kind of details the developers had put within the game. This doesn’t just stop within the locations outside of the inn but also within the inn itself.
Even though it is down to the player to decorate their own inn, there are plenty of decorations for the player to unlock and use within their inn that can add a lot of style and substance to the location. By doing this, it can achieve two things: one, making your inn look as beautiful as you want, and two, improving your rating with customers.
This was a good incentive for me, as it ensured I kept up to date with decorating my inn while also making sure I took the time to create a well-decorated inn rather than just simply throwing decorations into the room to boost a score.
Gameplay is Simple Yet Effective in Magic Inn
The main feature of any game is, of course, its gameplay, and Magic Inn is full of gameplay that can keep gamers busy for hours. Whether it be cooking meals, decorating your inn, cleaning your inn, or so much more, there were all kinds of things to do that made running the inn so fun and interesting.
When it came to cooking, each step in the cooking process had its own minigame that was fun to complete and kept me entertained throughout my time with the game. Due to each item of food having its own challenges, it was quite fun to try and get used to the different timings used to get the perfect result.
While the cooking was fun, a big part of Magic Inn was keeping the inn clean, and this in itself was a fun task, as this is where the magic began to shine. Using magic fire to burn down cobwebs and rain clouds to clear away tables, among many others, was just a fun use of magic that finally gives some form of an answer to the question, Why don’t wizards just use magic to do daily chores?
As said above, the card mechanic within the game that is the basis for selecting spells and conversing with NPCs is a unique choice, as it just looks mystical and magical. Due to the cards being clear, it is very simple to make the right choice, as each card is well designed with all the information clear as day, while also being clearly restricted if the requirements aren’t met.
Magic Inn
Summary
Magic Inn is a very vibrant and detailed game that puts emphasis on being able to cook good food and design a lovely inn that customers would want to go to, while also having fun gameplay mechanics that keep the player involved.
HOURS PLAYED: 3
PLAYED ON: PC
- Beautiful world full of color and detail that could put some bigger games to shame.
- Cooking is both fun and interesting as it keeps the player involved.
- Gameplay wasn't exactly clean as there was a few moments NPCs got stuck or glitched around.
- Some mechanics did become slightly boring over time.
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our review of Dead Take, or check out our interview with the developer behind the upcoming title Psycasso. Otherwise, follow Thumb Wars on X, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram to keep up with the latest news, reviews, and interviews!
I am a long-time writer who enjoys talking about numerous different game genres as well as playing them. My main focuses are games like Helldivers 2, Warframe, and so much more.
