Live from GDEX - MageQuit is 10-player free-for-all chaos

It is interesting which games show well on a show floor and which ones don’t. Consistently, the booths with the biggest crowds around them (outside of Sony’s somewhat scraggly offering) were indie titles that offered fun and visceral PVP experiences. And throughout the day yesterday, no crowd was bigger than the one that converged on the MageQuit booth for their officially sanctioned tournament.

MageQuit, developed by BowlCut Studios, is the rare game that offers 10-player local play (though the game can be played online as well, if you don’t have 10 controllers). The MageQuit booth was smartly set up with room for all 10 players, and during my time with the game, various players popped in and out of our battle with no hiccups.

MageQuit is a top down brawler, with players engaging each other all in one arena. The game is played in a series of matches, with the players scoring points for “kills”. In the first match, characters in the game only have one move – a basic fireball. But as matches complete, everyone is able to select another power, then another, allowing for customization that makes battle wildly unpredictable. By the time I stopped playing, I was rocking a water missile, a secondary weapon that sent out a spread of water projectiles, a water bubble that I could pop up around myself for defense, and a rush attack. With everyone selecting new abilities each round, there is no way to keep track of who chose what, which can lead to some surprise finishes.

MageQuit is frantic fun, and my son decreed it the game of the show. MageQuit is available as an Early Access title on Steam, and the devs from BowlCut assure me that there is an active Discord community full of folks to play with. If you are at GDEX today, swing by the MageQuit booth with a couple buddies and check it out. You won’t be disappointed.