I finished my first playthrough and managed to experience a good-ish? ending.

I discovered the nature of magic was to destroy your own soul during casting, so wizards would kill people en masse in order to graft extra souls onto their own for protection (kind of like an eldritch sunscreen). My parents did this to me as a young child killing themselves and all of our family's servants. I wished to stop this sort of thing from happening ever again. I managed to mostly learn spells without scars, except for becoming reviled after learning Promise of Brokenness (oops). I nurtured a bond with my frog familiar and spent 3 focus to gain power. Then when it came time to cast my final greatest spell I had to sacrifice my soothsayer companion for enough power to successfully cast Dark Paradox of Mathematics. This spell changed magic forever so that wizards would now only ever be able to hurt themselves to help others, and never the other way around. With nothing left to accomplish, I said goodbye to froggy friend and left my tower forever with a sense of peace.

So pretty cool game, thanks for making it!

You are oh so close to making this a size that can be printed as a booklet without having to trim every page. Any way to make the printable version's pages a little taller? I will convert it to a booklet and sent it back for you to use :)

This is a marvellous game and is a great introduction to solo role playing. The story, thanks to the well written prompts, took me on an unexpected journey into the heart of solitude and the cost of power. It can sometimes ask unsettling questions about what you are prepared to sacrifice to achieve your ambition, but you always have the option to step away. Playing a game that is capable of surprising you at every turn is a delight! This is a designer worth following. Thank you Momatoes! I look forward to exploring your other work.

Ok, I came back after my first run is completed. I really really liked it. I found it similar to thousand year vampire but shorter, wich is good, and with less book keeping, wich is really good.
It has a lot of replayibility due to the prompts being randomizable. 
The only thing i could say, is that i tried to be good, and ended up beeing quite able to do so. I was kinda expecting the game to force me into darker places. I could have totally gone there if I wanted though.
Really good Game! 

Cheers Momatoes

I just started playing and I´m already enjoying it very much. Really worth giving it a try!

A very enjoyable solo experience! The prompts are creative, the layout and atmosphere are great! The game can get really dark really quick, exploring the solitude of great power. Had a day-long playing-writing session and soon would again

absolutely incredibly solo ttrpg, the first one I've full played through in like..a year and a bit? i reckon the replayability value is through the roof - i've just sat down and written my answer for 6 hours STRAIGHT so i'll probably give it a few months before I try playing it again though haha. massive kudos to the creator, you really just dropped a masterpiece on us like I wouldn't forgo sleep to play. my playthrough can be found here (https://butchboar.wordpress.com/2023/05/12/the-magnus-response-review/) if anyone wants a nosey. 

Good game. I liked the prompts and the overall idea very much. The game is very Prospero-esque and the process is flexible enough to accommodate to various character ideas.

I'd like to have more various prompts for bond progression, as currently all bond events have the same prompt in the Nurture section. I also found the endings a little bit underdeveloped. I'd like to be able to role for some final prompts, perhaps with various options depending on how good or bad my magus had fared.

Summary of my playthrough:

My wizard was an absolvent of an elite magical school who dabbled in powerful magic, trying to bring a world revolution. He ended up both causing World War I and resolving it and his final spell changed the reality to create a completely new dynamics of power in the world. He ended up as an artifact of an forgotten old world, a eccentric professor surrounded by multiple friends. 

hello

Dear reader wondering if this game is worth it: it is. Everybody talk about how great the game is in the other comments, you can go and read those instead. I myself can't wait to start

But can we talk for a second about the layout? Light text on dark and evocative pictures, a bold choice of colors and fonts, and it WORKs. Seriously, this game makes a cliche gothic font just... work like it's nothing.
The destructurated page layout makes me think of mork borg -OK, which destructurated page layout wouldn't? - and I love it.
And here comes the best part: the credit section informs you that IT. WAS. MADE. ON. POWERPOINT.

I'm truly in awe, both at the game desing and at the tenacity and spite needed to pull this of.
Dear author, congrats.

Great game! I played some months ago a session and I found it deeply touching. My unnamed magus even had a happy ending, although he left behind all his magic. You can read the actual play (in spanish) in my blog: The Magus, review and actual play. Yes, in a blog, not in a video; I'm a traditionalist ;)

A deep and tragic game about ambition and isolation. Magus tempts you twice fold with impossible odds. First, embark on the path of power without ever losing control. Second, to be strong without ever being vulnerable.

My first session felt like a marathon of blood. From the beginning, Magus plays the clever trick of presenting you an out: "Perhaps the best course of action you could take is to never play". The text clearly shows how dangerous your journey of power can be. The world could be pummeled to dust if you made one simple mistake. But your path as a Magus almost feels too simple to fail. Make a compromise here, stay the path once in a while there and grab power when it's safest. What could ever go wrong with you at the helm?

Then you do make a mistake. And sacrifices must be made. But it's okay. You have power. And there are plenty of people to take the blow for you. You took on a debt for them. Now would be their turn. When the dominoes finally start falling in front of you, you will have already convinced yourself you still hold all the cards.

I really recommend taking a weekend to play this. If not give it a read.

The Magus was my first solo RPG and it was so fun. I'm a writer trying to defeat a writer's block and similiar exercises like these are perfect for that! If the physical copy ever released outside of italy I would love to buy it! 

The Magus is an indescribable experience. As a writer and huge RPG fan, I was surprised by both the quality of the game and the creativity behind the prompts. In general, I had a lot of fun playing it (it took me just one day, since I was so involved with my characters and the overall experience of the game that I lost track of time). 

As it turns out, a few kind people left reviews but unfortunately Itch does not display them. I hope it is alright I share them here.

@ClaytonNotestine says:

The Magus casts serious design magic. In addition to being a phenomenal solo rpg that makes you feel like a ruminating mage, it's also a feat in visual and graphic design. Momatoes has taken ethereal, moody artwork and made it crackle on the page. 

If you're looking for a reason to write and want it to linger ages after, I can't recommend this game enough

@PaulCzege says:

Beautiful and impactful! Solo games are so much fun!

5 Stars!

A great solo game. The layout is immersive and brings its own kind of tone transmission. The prompts are great and the spiralling sensation of having to sacrifice something (control or bonds) in order to gain power is really well designed.

Even the world building phase is well thought and helped me build the backbone of my story.

A kinda review in french : https://www.gulix.fr/blog/2021/05/22/lecture-de-role-de-la-diversite-du-jeu/

A fantastic journaling game that balances naked ambition against the need for others. Very apt themes for people who are developing skills in our current climate.

Spell creation is a delight, as is the disconcerting art and madness layout. It's all a very tight, fun package!