Gameogre's Interview with Magicka’s CEO, Johan Pilestedt

Magicka is an action-adventure game set in the fantasy world of Midgård, where elemental magic rules the land, goblins and trolls are perfectly harmless – well, perhaps not entirely, and all the villagers are wise-cracking smartalecks.

In your travels you will fight your way through 13 levels, each more fiendish than the last. You shall draw upon the aid of magickal spells, freely combined from the eight elements. As you progress, you will learn the delicate art of annihilating your enemies with the awesome powers of ancient Magicks. As if that’s not enough, you can also test your skills in the various challenge modes, and duel your friends (or enemies) in player vs player battle mode.

GameOgre: Magicka, a Swedish action-adventure game based on the lore of the Norse gods and goddesses, combines the wits and skills of four players at a time in order to defeat 13 levels of enemies. Can you give us an inside look from the developer’s perspective at what inspired Magicka?

Johan Pilestedt: Most of us have been gamers from the time we could handle a controller and our dislikes and likes in games have of course been huge sources of inspiration but more specifically I'd have to say Moonstone and Zelda, Diablo and Streetfighter.

GameOgre: What types of scenery, wildlife, and enemies can players expect to encounter in Magicka?

Johan Pilestedt: A lot of the action takes place in cold forests and icy mountains, haunted by goblins, trolls and nasty spiders. We also offer swaps, castles and caves, so there are many wonderful vistas to view and get killed in.

GameOgre: Players will control wizard/mage characters in the fantasy world of Midgard. Can you tell us more about the spells and abilities of the wizards?

Johan Pilestedt: The player combines eight elements to create a wide variety of effects. Each spell can hold five of these elements; fire and stone gives a fireball, fire and water gives scolding steam and so forth. Certain combinations unlock more powerful “Magicksâ€, like Teleport, Invisibility and Revive. The last one is especially useful, since it brings your allies back from the dead – a good thing to have in a challenging game like Magicka.

GameOgre: Tell us more about the 3 game modes of Magicka – Adventure, Challenge, and Versus. Which one is more suited for the single player?

Johan Pilestedt: Adventure and Challenge can be played in single player, but the game really shines in co-op multiplayer. Versus requires a friend to kill, of course.

GameOgre: Since two out of three modes of gameplay primarily require teamwork and timely cooperation, is there a voice chatting or messaging system in place to help players communicate with each other, or are players expected to use an outside program like Ventrilo to coordinate attacks?

Johan Pilestedt: There is no voice chat built in to Magicka, so players have to rely on other tech if they want to trash talk their friends in Versus (or similar).

GameOgre: How does the 4-player party system in Adventure mode work? Will players be able to save their games? Do players need to stick with the same group for all 13 levels? Is there loot to split?

Johan Pilestedt: The loot is more of a power up system which, if you die, you will loose.
There are a number of adventure slots. You keep your gear within that slot, but can’t share it between adventure slots. Loot is more of a power up system which, if you die, you will loose. If you jump into an adventure started by others you start with the default gear.

GameOgre: Can you give us some hints for the Challenge mode? What do you think really contributes to the success of a team in Challenge mode?

Johan Pilestedt: Backing each other up, with healing, walls and - of course – reviving magic! Bringing your friends back from the dead is easy in Magicka, and that is a good thing. The game can be quite challenging.

GameOgre: What kinds of pvp if any do you offer in Magika?

Johan Pilestedt: The Versus mode is focused on slaying your friends, but friendly fire is a common occurrence in the other modes as well; unintentional or not… The reviving “magick†is easy to use, thankfully!

GameOgre: How do characters use and combine the 8 different elements to annihilate enemies?

Johan Pilestedt: There are many ways; Fire let’s you fire a fiery bolt, stacking up more fire adds range and power to the fire, and you can also cast it as a wall of fire. Combining Fire and Rock gives you a fireball that damages enemies in a radius. Lightning damages foes, and if you spray your enemy with water and then blast them with lightning the damage multiplies. There are many possible combinations.

GameOgre: The friendly fire aspect of Magicka will make the game more challenging and exciting at the same time. What happens when friends accidentally annihilate friends? Are there healers or healing potions? Will the enemy side have friendly fire as well?

Johan Pilestedt: All players have access to healing and reviving magic, so getting killed is not so bad if your friends are there to help you.

GameOgre: Will you offer your players a Cash Shop ingame and if so, what might they expect to find in it?

Johan Pilestedt: There’s no in-game shop in Magicka, but we will expand the game with DLCs after release.

GameOgre: How is Magika standing out from other similar games on the market today?

Johan Pilestedt: Magicka is a casual action game with co-op for up to 4 players. It is totally focused on the joy of blasting foes with combinations of the elements whether in the campaign or in challenge mode.

GameOgre: What would you recommend that players definitely try out in the game once they start playing?

Johan Pilestedt: Experimenting with the spell combinations! There’s a lot in there that’s not obvious at first.


GameOgre: Is there anything else about Magicka you would like for our readers to know?

Johan Pilestedt: We've released a whole bunch of trailers where we've tried to capture the humor and action of the game. If you like what you see in those, you'll probably really enjoy playing the game. Oh, and did we mention the game will be sold for $9.99? We give as many people as possible a chance to try out our game!