Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Developer Troika Games
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is a 2001 role-playing video game developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra On-Line for Microsoft Windows. The game's story takes place within a fantasy setting currently undergoing a transformation from its own Industrial Revolution, in which magic competes against technological gadgets, and focuses on the efforts of a zeppelin crash survivor to find out who… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
106 reactions from 2 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 6, 2026 · last updated Oct 7, 2026 · How this works
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60 of 106 · most liked firstWhen High Fantasy meets Vernian Steampunk: Arcanum: of Steamworks & Magic Obscura. (2001) Troika Games' first game, one of three they'd develop in their short life, taking the narrative freedom of Fallout 1 & 2 and applying it to a world steeped in magic and industry.
unlabelledView post →My favourite example is Arcanum: of steamworks and magic obscura, a PC RPG, which had both magic and tech. Unless you took the magick allergy background, which meant you couldn't use magic. It turns out that this means you can't equip a plot critical amulet, so you can't finish the game.
unlabelledView post →Arcanum is a 24 years old game and its incredibly short opening before the real opening was honestly peak aesthetic. When I say I want more guns in fantasy setting, this is the image that comes up in my head.
unlabelledView post →Qintarra Game: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Dev: Troika Games 🇺🇸 Release: August 21, 2001 🥳🎂
unlabelledView post →Tulla Game: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Dev: Troika Games 🇺🇸 Release: August 21, 2001
unlabelledView post →Dernholm Game: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Dev: Troika Games 🇺🇸 Release: August 21, 2001
unlabelledView post →I do not recommend this game on Steam. It's much easier to tweak, finetune, and otherwise modify (which you will need to do) from GOG Galaxy. Once you get it from GOGG and get it up and running, you're in for one of the deepest, most interesting CRPGs; it almost rivals PlaneScape: Torment in its story depth. So buy it! Just not on Steam
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While playing Do NOT ALT+TAB or your game will be broken you won't even be able to save, the save gets currupted if you try to save you'll lose progress just because the game gets broken the moment you alt+tab.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of my favorite gameplay and narrative connections is in the game Arcanum - a wizard rapidly becomes a nearly godlike power in the battlefield, while a technologist never quite gets as powerful …but the technologist can give the entire party his steampunk power armor and railguns
unlabelledView post →Shrouded Hills Game: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Dev: Troika Games 🇺🇸 Release: August 21, 2001 Screenshot by FrenchCat
unlabelledView post →Game - Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura Song- Tarant Year - 2001 Developer-Troika Games Genre - CRPG Composer-Ben Houge
unlabelledView post →Troika's RPG, Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura, had a number of themed ads promoting a world welding together a steampunk-styled Industrial Revolution and spells like this two-pager from 2000 featuring a mage leaning against a wall with a zeppelin in the sky behind him.
unlabelledView post →This game gave me one of the greatest gaming memories of my childhood. I never actually finished it myself, but i watched my dad complete it multiple times. That didn’t matter to me - I got so much enjoyment simply from exploring and LIVING in its world. I remember being on a family vacation and, instead of enjoying it, i was DAYDREAMING about all the things i’d do in Arcanum once I got back home. And don’t even get me started on what i truly believe is one of the GREATEST gaming soundtracks…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →something I adore about the game Arcanum: of steamwork and magick obsucra is how the central plot involves events from 2,000 years ago, but 99.9999% of the game is deeply and intimately related to stuff that happened in the past 50 years
unlabelledView post →Artfight 2025 Attack 1: "Fancy Portrait of the Living One" artfight.net/attack/97000... The lovely Yvon Chu for @ammonoideas.bsky.social #Art #ArtFight #Artfight2025 #TeamCrystals #Arcanum #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
unlabelledView post →"Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura" DESERVES a remaster. WITHOUT changing the story to suit "modern audiences".
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →By the way, the ultimate goal of the mod is to voice every single Arcanum NPC, all 900 of them! If achieved, the amount of VA in the mod will rival AAA games like Skyrim. The project needs you. Have zero experience? Think your recording setup is not good enough? We'd still like to hear your voice.
unlabelledView post →I played the entire game on a Steam Deck using the unofficial patch 2.0.2. The original version launches and runs fine. I had to make a few adjustments to install the patch and add custom portraits, but it wasn't anything complicated. It's unclear why the game is labeled as unplayable on the Steam Deck. Overall, it's a fantastic adventure created by talented and intelligent people, which is a rarity in the video game industry.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some concept sketches for my dnd setting, Blackwell! Lotta inspiration from Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. Love that game to death and wanna take the ideas and run with them for my own setting. So hopefully you'll be seeing more of it and my ocs (who I hope you all love) place in it!
unlabelledView post →The pitch started out because I went "I would like to make an RPG that surpasses Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and Fallout 2, but it needs to actually feel good as hell to play" and we made a world and narrative and some game design shit that's... gonna do WEIRD shit to your brain. :)
unlabelledView post →kill gnomes, behead gnomes, roundhouse kick a gnome into the concrete, slam dunk a gnome baby into the trash can, crucify filthy gnomes, defecate in a gnomes food, launch gnomes into the sun, stir fry gnomes in a wok, toss gnomes into active volcanoes, urinate into gnome's gas tank, judo throw gnomes into a wood chipper, twist gnomes heads off, report gnomes to the IRS, karate chop gnomes in half, curb stomp pregnant gnomes, trap gnomes in quicksand, crush gnomes in the trash compactor, liquify…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →favorite fantasy video game settings masterlist is now Eora Terratus Arcanum Tamriel Faerun Golarion
unlabelledView post →"I...uh hereby dedicate, no, uhm...commit my life to the Living One." - Virgil On January 1, 1885, the Living One's wondrous journey across a land of steamworks and magick obscura began in flames and prophecy~ #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
unlabelledView post →Play Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, I'm beggin' y'all. It's cheap & just needs the unofficial patch~ GOG: www.gog.com/en/game/arca... Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/500810/A... Unofficial Arcanum Patch: terra-arcanum.com/drog/uap.html UAP install guide video: youtu.be/pKgvwCiAmac?...
unlabelledView post →🔮 New Release! 🔮 Idylwild’s Arcanum: magical items for your game! -Staves, wands, potions & crystals -Runestones, scrolls, grimoires & more -Perfect for RPGs & fantasy worlds 🔗 Browse here: idylwild.itch.io/idylwilds-ar... opengameart.org/content/idyl... #PixelArt #GameAssets #IndieGameDev #Free
unlabelledView post →I miss physical game manuals for the weird stuff like this that they’d throw in there. The Arcanum manual had cool art and like themed cooking recipes and shit
unlabelledView post →Imagine Arcanum being your first crpg and your first exposure to steampunk. This game one-shotted my little ass.
unlabelledView post →This game feels outdated and rough around the edges, but it still delivers the depth and freedom you expect from a classic CRPG. If you can live with the clunkiness, it is easy to get pulled into a rare, unforgettable RPG world.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to draw Rí'an in an outfit more closely based on her in-game equipment, mixed with Victorian sportswear because she's gotta be fit for adventure! 💪 #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
unlabelledView post →Hey Everyone Lots of new faces! I'm Brandon, the founder of Star Anvil Studios. We would love to hear any questions you have about our game lines. Go ahead ask us! The Secret World, Starbreaker, Knights Arcanum, Dominions of Steel. Lots done and more to come.
unlabelledView post →Saying Planescape: Torment has the greatest story ever told in an RPG is like saying water is wet. It's almost annoying to read at this point because it has been declared ad nauseam, but truly I can not go a week without thinking about the game narratively and thematically. The same thing for me applies to Arcanum here as well. It lead me to think about Role-Playing Games in regard to narrative itself. The recent gold-standard champion for so many being Baldur's Gate 3. I don't think Baldur's…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A lovely character redesign commission for @stellastra.bsky.social 🫶 This was fun and sweet- we did a reinterpretation of an npc from the game Arcanum. | #myart #art #commission #artcommission #characterdesign |
unlabelledView post →I enjoyed my time overall, but its hard to recommend Arcanum. I needed to download 2 different patches to get it running properly, and even then it would still crash or freeze sometimes. The start is also extremely rough and its very hard to find resources to figure out a functional build. Even if you do, the beginning is not intuitive and its very hard to know what to do or where to go, so its not surprising that most people just give up in the beginning. I would not recommend this game to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Would I reccomend Arcanum? Ehhhh, it's complicated. I'm leaning towards Yes, but only if you meet a few criteria: - You enjoy Fallout 1 & 2 and wish to have a similar itch scratched (as the game was made with Tim Cain as project lead, in a very similar engine.) - Combat is not very important to you and you're willing to slog through it. - You don't mind long paragraphs of text. If you meet those criteria, you will absolutely love Arcanum. It's a rich world full of lore and intrigue…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An outfit commission done for @stellastra.bsky.social ✨ This was very fun, we worked on an outfit redesign for Raven- a companion npc from the game Arcanum. | #art #myart #commission #arcanum #artcommission |
unlabelledView post →A doodle drawn to answer a tumblr ask. Sorry, Charlie. No mercy for ungrateful bastards, even in death. #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
unlabelledView post →I played Arcanum for the first time when I was 14 - way back when the game first game out, around 2004. It was on CD and I had the manual. My first somewhat woeful run at the game was as a half-orc technologist. In this game, if you get a high technical aptitude, people comment on it.
unlabelledView post →post-game nonsense #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
unlabelledView post →✨ I spent the last ~2 weeks diving headfirst into low-level game dev and accidentally wrote an isometric game engine from scratch. #Rust + #raylib only. Inspired by Fallout & Arcanum. #gamedev #indiegame
unlabelledView post →WARNING: THIS GAME REQUIRES YOU TO REALLY ENJOY GRINDY OLD RPGs That said, this game is EXCELENT. The Character Systems are unique and interlocked, The world is greatly full of secrets, great writing, cool side experiences and a world full of lore that really felt alive, for its time. I am blown away by the layers of writing and hidden text options for a game of this age. It really attempted to push the envelope on what a cRPG. I secretly hope someone picks up and runs with the IP since it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am informed that the solution to all my problems in this game, much like Arcanum and reality, is a gun. Need to see if the NRA is in the credits. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to the Arcanum soundtrack. I should do that.
unlabelledView post →are YOU making a game and want to put a tarot deck in it? consider : the Arcade Arcanum licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, you can these cards for personal and professional works, remix, whatever! modernmodron.itch.io/the-arcade-a...
unlabelledView post →Virgil's rambling at the start of the game is so funny to me if you play as an elf (or half-elf). #Art #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
unlabelledView post →btw, i've actually gone through and tried a bunch of Arcanum builds that are less optimal or weird and...honestly, if you know the game well, you can make a shocking amount of things work really well
unlabelledView post →My favorite game of all times and probably the only one that I replay every damn year (there are hundreds of hours I spent playing it throughout my life). Bought it on steam just to respect it by having in my library. Now, I admit there is a significant nostalgia factor, but still - this game is a cult classic ama lemme tell you why. It has a good, intricate story, exquisite dialogues (they are very rarely voiced but the quality of voice acting is top notch), interesting characters to meet…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game if you can get it working, just some tips to get it running. Install unofficial patch, set the ini to 1920x1080 and run the install bat, then rename ddraw to 000, then set monitor to 60hz or lower and 1920x1080, restart PC then try to run it, that's the only way I've been able to get this game to run consistently, also turn off G-sync on your monitor if it's on.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I colored the grayscale follower portraits shown in Prima's Official Strategy Guide for Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura~ The individual portraits can be viewed here: imgur.com/a/arcanum-of... #Arcanum #Arcanum:OfSteamworksandMagickObscura #ArcanumOfSteamworksandMagickObscura
unlabelledView post →One of the best RPG's of all time. Don't play vanilla though, Drog's UAP is the way to go.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Warhammer Fantasy Battle 8th Ed July 2011 "Storm of Magic" supplement and Monstrous Arcanum 2012 books finally had Fimir stats again for WFB. Total War: Warhammer 2016 video game also included Fimir in official Games Workshop publications. Lots of fan based Fimir material+minis have been made 23/24🧵
unlabelledView post →beneath the roughness of Arcanum lies a brilliant story, revealed by peeling back the silent layers of its immensely rich worldbuilding. it is a shame that this mystery is oftentimes lost in the game’s excessively unrestricted combat and exploration systems
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Random shot from the character creation menu for New Arc Line, a steampunk game a bit like Arcanum in that its a technology vs. magic situation.
unlabelledView post →Even though the graphics are outdated, I keep coming back to this game. It was ahead of its time when it comes to offering different choices and routes to the player.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you. One game per day, for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, no particular order. #GameChallenge #Games #GameDev #PromoSky ↘️ Day 14: Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura
unlabelledView post →Fantastic CRPG from Timothy Cain
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In serious need of a remaster, or better yet, a remake. Otherwise, quite good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura stands as one of the most ambitious CRPGs ever created, a sprawling experiment that throws players into a world where industrial progress collides violently with ancient sorcery. The game opens in dramatic fashion: you awaken as the lone survivor of a fiery zeppelin crash, entrusted by a dying stranger with a mysterious ring and a plea that sets a grand mystery in motion. It’s an introduction that immediately establishes uncertainty, danger, and a sense…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the racism lore in this game is rich and complex.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While playing Do NOT ALT TAB or your game will be broken also i love TİM CAİN
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Feeling the closest I possibly have is a Lord-Arcanum "Tempest" Lord. Bonus pic of my underwater game vs some Idoneth/NH at Shadowcon recently.
unlabelledView post →This is like Fallout but instead of being the chosen one or someone saving many lives you're just some dude going around doing things because you can
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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