Academagia: The Making of Mages Demo Released

If you’ve been meaning to give Black Chicken Studios’ Academagia a try, but were a little put off by its current $25 price point, you’re in luck. The indie developer has released a full 30-minute demo of the game, which should be more than enough to get a good feel for whether or not the Hogwarts-inspired RPG is worth your time. Since our coverage of the game has been a bit sparse up to this point, I’ll leave you with the official rundown:

Academagia: The Making of Mages is a whimsical fantasy life simulation and role-playing game set at the renowned Academy of Magic in the rich and dangerous city of Mineta. As a newly arrived teenager in a strange, vast school, you’ll embark on adventures great and small, train your familiar, make friends (and enemies!), and master the shining arts and subtle laws of spell-casting.

In your first year, you’ll attend classes, build skills, compete for the glory of your College, and explore the history and powers of an ancient world of flying islands and fallen empires. What you choose to do – whether it be to create a new magical item, to butter up your instructors, or to duel with your bitterest rivals – will ultimately determine how your character evolves throughout the school year. With many secret skills to uncover and hundreds of unique actions to learn and bonuses to collect, character specialization is unprecedented in its breadth. You can explore the campus, research in the many libraries, help your friends, visit exotic merchants or cast powerful spells: the choice is yours!

But beware! There are more dangers than just detention, and frightening secrets wait in the long forgotten sections of the University…

‘¢ Interact with over 80 Students
‘¢ Maneuver through more than 800 possible Random Events
‘¢ Set out upon any of over 100 Adventures
‘¢ Explore hundreds of Skills
‘¢ Cast Spells from the five Pillars of Magic, or learn the Forbidden Arts
‘¢ Add new effects to existing Spells as you master the vocabulary of Magic
‘¢ Discover and visit mysterious castles, ruins, shops and secret hide-outs
‘¢ Teach, train and adventure with a Familiar from one of dozens of species
‘¢ Enjoy nearly endless replayability and scope

Academagia is a 2D PC life simulation and role-playing game intended for audiences ages 9+. Our game rewards relationship building, research and knowledge over violence, and encourages the gamer to create their own unique story. The game is available on www.academagia.com, as well as Impulse, Beamdog, and GamersGate for digital distribution. The game retails at $24.95.