On the surface, this might seem like your run-of-the-mill assymetrical 4X game, where you start of as a weak mage and try to rise to the top, facing off various enemies, from wild beasts, to anti magic fanatics, and even powerful demons and elementals, all the while trying to avoid or appease already established rival mages, who are much, much more powerful than you.
Indeed the game is all that, but also so much more.

I find this a rough gem. As an experienced 4X player, my biggest gripe with this type of games has been poor scaling. Take any 4X, fantasy/sci-fi/historical and I've always felt overburdened in late game, which limited my enjoyment. Too many cities or castles, too many units or armies, too many things to defend and pay attention to, to the point that it often felt like a chore.

Here, devs had the guts to go for something different - even in very late game, you will only ever use a few armies. You start with one "city" (your magic tower) and you end with only one as well. What's the strategy then? Glad you asked! Depending on your class, your play style and RNG you will end up building your tower in a very different way to suit very different purposes. What happens if one of those circle magi takes an unhealthy interest in you too soon, or you need different resources not found in your current regions? Simple, just levitate your tower and move elsewhere.

There is truly an immense amount of possibilities to rise to the top. You need to raise your relations with a neutral settlement, to be able to upgrade your tower and buy/build better units? You can bribe the city. Or you can use magic to influence it. Or you can take control of their taverns and slowly build your reputation over time. Or finish their quests.
New players might feel overwhelmed at start, but I promise it doesn't take long to figure it out.

Even though there are some balance issues, and very rarely you can get in problems due to bad RNG, there are always options.
It is certainly a very strong recommendation from me. The foundations the game is built on are very strong. It only needs balance tweaks and more content at this point. Hopefully, devs will continue to support it for a long time and hopefully some of its innovations will carry over to other 4X games.

On the surface, this might seem like your run-of-the-mill assymetrical 4X game, where you start of as a weak mage and try to rise to the top, facing off various enemies, from wild beasts, to anti magic fanatics, and even powerful demons and elementals, all the while trying to avoid or appease already established rival mages, who are much, much more powerful than you. Indeed the game is all that, but also so much more. I find this a rough gem. As an experienced 4X player, my biggest gripe with this type of games has been poor scaling. Take any 4X, fantasy/sci-fi/historical and I've always felt overburdened in late game, which limited my enjoyment. Too many cities or castles, too many units or armies, too many things to defend and pay attention to, to the point that it often felt like a chore. Here, devs had the guts to go for something different - even in very late game, you will only ever use a few armies. You start with one "city" (your magic tower) and you end with only one as well. What's the strategy then? Glad you asked! Depending on your class, your play style and RNG you will end up building your tower in a very different way to suit very different purposes. What happens if one of those circle magi takes an unhealthy interest in you too soon, or you need different resources not found in your current regions? Simple, just levitate your tower and move elsewhere. There is truly an immense amount of possibilities to rise to the top. You need to raise your relations with a neutral settlement, to be able to upgrade your tower and buy/build better units? You can bribe the city. Or you can use magic to influence it. Or you can take control of their taverns and slowly build your reputation over time. Or finish their quests. New players might feel overwhelmed at start, but I promise it doesn't take long to figure it out. Even though there are some balance issues, and very rarely you can get in problems due to bad RNG, there are always options. It is certainly a very strong recommendation from me. The foundations the game is built on are very strong. It only needs balance tweaks and more content at this point. Hopefully, devs will continue to support it for a long time and hopefully some of its innovations will carry over to other 4X games.