Magicka

Magicka is an action-adventure game played in a 3D environment from an isometric perspective. It can be played in both single player or cooperative mode with up to four players.

In contrast to the role-playing games that traditionally dominate the magic and high-fantasy genres, Magicka has no character class structure. Similarly, there is no "mana bar" or energy meter that limits the use of special abilities, and players are able to access a majority of the most powerful spells from the beginning of the game. Magic spells can be cast without limit, and power limitations are largely based on ability combos. The game is also exceptionally scant in its utilization of powerup items, as one of the developers' goals was to shift focus away from the acquisition of material goods, or "loot", as player motivation.

The game is set in Midgård, a fictional land which is loosely based around Norse mythology. Castle Aldrheim is the home of the Order of Magick which trains wizards.

In the past Grimnir was a powerful wizard of the Order of Magick who wished to harness the power of all magick in order to help the Order bring about peace and prosperity to Midgård. However, his ambition and lust for knowledge scared the other wizards and so the Order banished Grimnir and his followers and imprisoned the powerful wizard at World's End.

The team that developed Magicka consisted of eight full-time developers and four contractors. It took twenty-four months to complete and was made on a budget of around $400,000. The game was developed by eight students at Luleå University of Technology in Skellefteå, Sweden.

An early incomplete version of Magicka was named Game of the Year 08 at the Swedish Game Awards 2008.

On release, the game suffered criticism for its many bugs, crashes and glitches along with lag and connectivity issues with their multiplayer servers, which forced the developers to release a number of patches to try and address these issues.