Magic Cauldron: Forgotten Island mixes deckbuilding with classic adventure gameplay on Kickstarter
Indie developer Manuel Schenk has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Magic Cauldron: Forgotten Island, a new turn-based adventure that mixes deckbuilding and card-based combat with elements of traditional point-and-click adventures. The campaign launched on 12 September and is seeking €3,000 in funding, with the game planned for Windows, macOS and Linux. At the time of writing, the campaign has already attracted its first backers and is scheduled to run until 3 October 2026.
Set once again in Schenk's wonderfully odd Magic Cauldron universe, Forgotten Island swaps the more conventional adventure-game structure of earlier entries for turn-based exploration and deckbuilding battles, while retaining the series' humour and eccentric fantasy setting. The developer describes it as a combination of a deck-builder, turn-based combat and classic point-and-click adventure elements.
Schenk has been steadily experimenting with different takes on retro-style adventure games for several years. His previous releases include the comic point-and-click adventures Nelson and the Magic Cauldron from 2018 and Nelson and the Magic Cauldron: The Journey from 2022, as well as the excellent-looking pixel-art sci-fi adventure Orbital Cargo Division from 2023. More recently he expanded the Magic Cauldron setting with the retro-inspired dungeon crawlers Magic Cauldron: Dungeons and Dungeons II.
It is an interesting change of direction for a developer whose work has so far been strongly rooted in classic adventure gaming, and one that still seems determined to keep plenty of the humour and old-school flavour of his earlier games.