A downloadable solo journaling RPG

Get this solo journaling RPG and 3 more for $40.00 USD
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Buy Now$25.00 USD or more

One of Polygon's top solo RPGs to make you cry, The Magus is a journaling game that takes you on a sweeping journey for power, ambition, and arcane mastery, at great personal and interpersonal cost.

Infuse the game with evocative cards filled with prompts for spells, bonds, moods, and inspiration. Expand your play with a new setting, duet rules, and minigames.

See the Original Edition here.



In The Magus, you play as a power-hungry wizard who will stop at nothing to attain their arcane ambition. Through the course of this game, you will navigate strange encounters and confront complex opportunities for learning spells—or cultivating tenuous bonds. But sacrifices must be made. Are you willing to hold on to your humanity, or ready to destroy all that you love?


This game is driven by prompts, attributes, and dice rolls where you track your aspects and test your power against increasingly more difficult events. Make difficult decisions how to manage your resources and expend your power, or risk losing it all in a fiery calamity that swallows you whole.

Unlike typical multiplayer campaigns, you set the pace and drive the story through introspection and writing, capturing your wizard's journey through fiction informed by dice rolls and card draws.

Unlike many solo journaling games, the Magus is crunchy — you will use all your dice to play and control your character, for unparalleled structure to your narrative.

Need a copy?

Free copies are available—no questions asked—simply scroll down to the bottom and click "Claim access" under the Community Copy section. If the copies have run out, simply email me at hello@momatoes.com and I'll have you sorted out with a download link.



This edition is powered by the Oracle, a 78-card deck which holds the Spell and Bond prompts, plus unique, evocative artwork by momatoes that can inspire your writing. An online playable version of the Oracle is included in every purchase.


The Oracle has something to add to every form of roleplaying, every act of storytelling, even beyond the Magus: you can use it to generate random encounters, scene starters and unexpected resolutions in your tabletop games, or to fuel your creative writing. Each set of prompts has its own unique flavor, and as you combine them into something greater, you will be surprised by the connections your mind makes with every new draw.


The Oracular edition also comes with brand-new content that elevates it from the original.

  • Dive into the Hex—pull the Magus from the mists of old and thrust them beneath the neon lights of a modern metropolis. Written by Chiara Locatelli from the Italian publisher and game design studio NessunDove, the Hex features alternate prompts and guiding questions to recontextualize the traditional experience.
  • Play with a friend through Duet Rules—turn the game into a bittersweet exchange of letters between rivals. Are you willing to reveal your innermost vulnerabilities to someone who could betray you? Written by Oscar Biffi of NessunDove.
  • Learn what it takes To Serve the Lonely Tower—a multiplayer game about the sad tales of all those who bind themselves to the Magus. Written by Oscar Biffi, embark on a journey and test the fragile trust the Magus has placed in you.
  • Save the world in Magust Must Die—a solo roguelike game where you have but one goal: kill the Magus.

These exciting new additions, enabled by the creative minds at NessunDove, give a fresh breath of air to the Magus experience.

Featuring 140 evocative pages with exquisite graphic design alongside 78 cards with inspiring art and content, The Magus: Oracular Edition will take you on a memorable journey of sacrifice, loneliness, and the pathos coursing through all of us.






A message from momatoes

Purchasing this game is deeply appreciated and directly supports me. That said, free copies are also availableno questions askedsimply "Claim access" in the Community Copy section below. If the copies have run out, simply email me at hello@momatoes.com and I'll have you sorted out with a download link.

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Purchase

Get this solo journaling RPG and 3 more for $40.00 USD
View bundle
Buy Now$25.00 USD or more

In order to download this solo journaling RPG you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $25 USD. You will get access to the following files:

Oracle_online.pcio 11 MB
Instructions for the Online Oracle.pdf 1.7 MB
Using The Oracle for momatoes Games 6.7 MB
The Magus - Oracular Edition.pdf 121 MB
The Oracle Deck.pdf 45 MB
The Hex (Modern Magus).pdf 15 MB
The Two Towers (Duet Rules).pdf 10 MB
Magus Must Die (Solo Roguelike).pdf 17 MB
To Serve the Lonely Tower (Multiplayer Game).pdf 9.1 MB

Exclusive content

Support this solo journaling RPG at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.

Community Copy

A free copy, no questions asked.

Comments

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(+2)

I was fortunate enough to get a free copy and I finished my first playthrough. I thought I was going to make it to end without a sacrifice and it broke my heart! I love this game and will definitely play it again.

I came across your game via a YT video from Mel Li. The game looks simply wonderful, however I can not afford a copy at this time. I was writing to ask for a community copy, please and thank you so very much.

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I just finished my first playthrough, this is a game I would definitely recommend for others to play. The experience was immersive, I would sit down and listen to a playlist of gothic classic music whilst I played throughout the game I spent most of my time Nurturing my Bond with Damien a forgetful librarian with spectacles bound to his forehead what drew my Magnus Elena to them was shared ideologies and a mutual love for science.


Following their first meeting Elena had casted her first spell but acquired the Rotting Disease Scar because of this she conceals her left hand (the infected body part) in a glove. As her story progresses Elena begins to fall in love with Damien but it conflicted because of her desire to pursue the arcane. There were two other bonds she formed but most of her time spent was with Damien. In the end she casts "Wish" in an attempt to rewrite a reality where she tried to make a new world where she and Damien could live together without her sacrificing her power but instead a backlash occurs and reality shatters, Damien is gone and Elena is now trapped in a prison of her own making an eternal darkness that is the only remnant of this broken world.

Overall I would rate this game as a 10/10 it is perfect down to every last detail and I had lots of fun playing, the actual play was in an A6 pocket diary and took me 19 pages total.

The playlist I was listening to during my playthrough that said is this one Frankenstein (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film)

(+2)

I was gifted a community copy by momatoes, and suffice to say the game has been a daily routine of mine for the past month! The prompts and the structure are well thought out, but flexible enough to allow for improvisation. Some days I was so immersed that I played for hours straight lol. The game revived my love for creative writing and gave me a space to distance myself from the digital world. Definitely recommended!!

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Is it possible to get a plain text version of this? I have ADHD, and I'm unable to read or process any information due the styling (which is very cool) and the "busy-ness" of the formatting (different fonts, different text colors on image backgrounds)

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Hi, it's in the works! The progress has been slow due to life factors, but it will be out in H1 2026.

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Just finished my first playthrough. I had so much fun spell-crafting. For a first ending I was surprised to see my Magus make it until the epilogue and keep one bond. It was bittersweet in a way. Def looking forward for more future gameplays :D!

(+2)

my introduction to solo rpgs. with the oracular edition I was able to connect with my girlfriend as she went through recovering from an operation, in a completely different country. writting letters and drawing cards from the deck was the highlight of my summer, and I'll always cherish the memories this wonderful bundle of prompts have given us

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I am so grateful that the game brought you many cherished memories. Thank you for playing the game with your loved one.

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Twenty minutes and two prompts into my first playthrough, I had a singular human connection and was faced with the choice of sacrificing them or loosening my control on the one spell I'd uncovered. 10/10 this game will haunt your dreams. 

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I hope it wasn't too stressful a decision! I'm glad you liked the game :) 

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Made this small tool to help me play with the digital cards

https://magus.ellugar.co/

This is awesome! Incredibly helpful, and that gets you a follow ;-)

Thank you for making this tool! It rocks! 

Any way to pay for a copy of the digital version of the Oracular Edition without using PayPal? I don't have an account, and I'd rather not make one. Not seeing any other option here.

Unfortunately, PayPal is the main mode of transaction. I am happy to send a free copy to you. But you can also make a donation to Doctors Without Borders (any amount is OK) if you would like to pay it forward.

Officially requesting a copy :thumbsup:

Hopefully I was able to send it to the right email address!

(+1)

Momatoes gave me the pdf version for free, no questions asked, a few years ago, so I was deeply appreciative that I was able to support the Kickstarter campaign when it came around so I could pay back the good deed. Thanks Momatoes!! Love your work so much.

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it!

VICTORY!

(+3)

Hello I really love your game and wanted to be a bit dramatic about it because you deserve to know what an incredible thing you've made;

I wish I could find the words to articulate how beautiful this book is. I am ill with love for it! The enamel of my teeth is bleached with my enjoyment of this! I do not even want to know what Cthonic spices you must flavor your soup with to make such an impressive collection of pages! Thank you for making this! It is a delight to look at and read. 

Apologies I never responded to this, but this has been the best comment I have ever received about a game I've made. I'm honored you feel this way, and privileged to know that my game had an impact!

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beautiful, shame i dont have enough money to go this far 🥲