You can shout spells into your mic to defeat opponents in this new $2.99 PvP Steam game with 92% positive rating from 2,600 reviews
Most multiplayer games are reflex-demanding, while some are strategy based - but Mage Arena wants your voice. Not your "in-game" voice, but literally: you cast spells by saying their names through your microphone. Picture an arena where you and other players are constantly yelling "Fireball!" and "Freeze!" as a core mechanic. That’s the setup for Mage Arena, which entered early access on July 24, 2025 and is slowly carving out a reputation as one of Steam’s most unique PvP games this summer.
In Mage Arena, you form teams of wizards and warlocks to fight for control in objective-based matches, often tripping each other up with both spells and accidental misfires. The voice recognition system is central - not only does it determine which spells come out, but mispronounced incantations can lead to unintended, and sometimes hilarious, effects. Proximity voice chat, randomized terrain, and the possibility of freezing allies or accidentally teleporting into hazards keep matches fun and unpredictable.
Through word of mouth, this concept quickly drew attention. On SteamDB, Mage Arena shows "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews, with a 95% positive rating over 2,300 user reviews in merely 4-5 days. Over on Steam, players are praising the sheer novelty of shouting spells, with many stories about party mishaps, voice recognition mishaps, and last-second turnarounds. One user called it "the perfect chaos to unwind with friends."
Still, it’s not all perfect. Mage Arena’s single-developer status shows: forum threads and reviews list bugs like stuck movement, spell misfires, and audio conflicts with certain setups. Lobbies aren’t always stable, and a number of users mention the occasional need for restarts after crashes. On the bright side, the developer, "jrsjams," has been quite transparent about these problems. On the Steam page and in community announcements, they stated outright: "Due to a large number of bugs the game has temporarily been discounted to $2.99. It will be raised to $4.99 once stable." This price cut was intentional and should compensate for the present rough edges, with the developer estimating just $1 profit per sale after taxes and Steam's cut.
As for player activity, Mage Arena climbed to a peak of 13,450 concurrent Steam players after launch. Its retention is still strong for a niche indie title; probably because of the low price and strong word-of-mouth as drivers.
Mage Arena’s future likely depends on how fast bugs are squashed and features are refined. But there's no doubt that an arena full of shouting spellcasters has - at least for now - created a solid first impression. Noteworthy, a player on r/SteamDeck mentioned that while the game is generally playable on the Deck (curr. $777 on Amazon), you will have to run it with Proton Experimental and GE-Proton10-8, and use the touchscreen or trackpads for most inputs - with no explicit controller mapping.
