by theygamesAlthough each installment of The Sims offers an expansion with magic, the options available have always been relatively limited. Even exploring Glimmerbrook and The Magic Realm in The Sims 4, it all feels like an amusement park experience rather than something more fleshed out. The Fool’s Apprentice offers people management within a magic school in the middle of a mythic realm, so you can fully embrace the dream of becoming Gandalf and running a wizard academy (or maybe that’s just me).
The next generation of witches and wizards are on your doorstep, needing guidance. The Fool’s Apprentice follows their education, from fledgling magic-user to expert, with you as their guide. They’re needed to save the city of Golryon in the fantasy game, so you have to sharpen them up.
Alas, the youth aren’t always keen on studying, so your powers of levitation, mind control and more are needed to keep them in line. You need them to stay on top of their academic work so you can also focus on your true passion: the wizard’s tower, a personal area dedicated to your own research and exploits. Learn some forgotten spells? Or practice something potentially dangerous in the name of charting new pages in your spellbook? The eternal dilemma.
The upcoming PC game places many such choices upon your shoulders as a trained Arcanist. You could go all in on education over putting yourself in the spotlight, or consistently use the school as a thinly veiled vanity exercise, all the while deciding to keep as much of the magic knowledge to yourself as possible. Your popularity and reputation among cityfolk are counted though, and there are narrative events to be wary of. Actions can have consequences, even if you are in charge.
Honestly, the whole project, from developer and publisher The Planar Dense, brings to mind the College of Winterhold from Skyrim, but in much more colorful fashion. It’s such a captivating bit of wish fulfillment, whether as a teacher or pupil, because regardless of your education, it would’ve been infinitely cooler if magic was involved and it took place in a big, old castle.
The Fool’s Apprentice comes out on Steam in Q1 2025, but there’s a demo available now. We have lists of the best dragon games and the best RPGs to give you plenty of might and magic while we wait for more.
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