External Links

Download page
Windows, OS X, Linux
This is a pseudo-format used to represent download adviser records that apply to multiple formats.

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Playlists and Wishlists

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to external links
All updates to this page

Thaumistry: In Charm's Way

by Bob Bates

Fantasy
2017

Web Site

About the Story

Thaum: (noun). A unit of magical energy
Bodge: (verb). To hack or kludge

Eric Knight was a child prodigy who was featured on the cover of Invent! Magazine at the age of 13 for his invention of an anti-stain chemical treatment.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t invented anything since and now, at the age of 23, he has a strong case of imposter syndrome. He feels like a failure.

For the past few years he has been given laboratory space in a start-up incubator, but as the game opens, he is holding a letter from IncuLab threatening to pull the plug if he cannot demonstrate within a day that his latest invention works.

As he thinks this over, an energetic stranger bursts into his lab and says, “I’m your wake-up call, dude. You feel like you don't quite fit in, right? Weird things happen when you're around? Traffic lights turn red just as you get to them. Elevator doors don't close when you push the button. Your alarm clock randomly fails in the morning. There's a name for people like that. We're called Bodgers. I'm one, and you might be one too.”

Eric soon learns that Bodgers are a group of people through whom magic flows into the world. Some Bodgers aren’t aware of this ability, and they come to regard themselves as accident-prone, jinxes, or jonahs. But Bodgers who realize their identity can learn to channel this mischievous magic. The aim of a Bodger is to make a small thing go wrong in order to make big things go right.

Is Eric himself a Bodger? Through the course of the game he tries to find out. But first there is an imminent danger that must be dealt with. Another inventor has created a thaumeter – a device that measures magical energy. Its unveiling is planned for the end of day, and if that happens then the existence of the Bodgers will be exposed, and mass persecution will follow.

Ran a Kickstarter campaign until 2017-02-22. Published in October 2017.


Game Details

Off-Site Reviews

Quarter To Three
Thaumistry: In Charm’s Way put a spell on me
Thaumistry is exactly what you want if you’re an Infocom fanboy like me. It has that thoughtful, funny writing Infocom spoiled us with, dozens of just-hard-enough puzzles, a cast of characters with enough personality to be interesting, an over-the-top set-piece climax, and all the refinements you expect from a modern adventure game.
See the full review

Page Update History

v.16: 11-Nov-2017 13:20 - Nikos Chantziaras (Current Version) - Edit Page - Normal View
v.15: 09-Jul-2018 11:20 - Nikos Chantziaras
Changed download links
v.14: 09-Jul-2018 11:19 - Nikos Chantziaras
Changed download links
v.13: 09-Jul-2018 11:16 - Nikos Chantziaras
v.12: 09-Jul-2018 11:00 - Nikos Chantziaras
Changed download links
v.11: 19-Jun-2018 14:38 - Nikos Chantziaras
Changed version number
v.10: 22-Dec-2017 20:52 - Nikos Chantziaras
Changed external review links
v.9: 21-Nov-2017 13:29 - Nikos Chantziaras
Changed version number, genre, download links
v.8: 11-Nov-2017 13:41 - jakomo
Changed external review links
  v.7: 11-Nov-2017 13:20 - jakomo
Changed download links, external review links
v.6: 11-Nov-2017 13:10 - jakomo
Changed publication date, description
v.5: 31-Aug-2017 15:02 - Nikos Chantziaras
Changed IFIDs, description, forgiveness, Web site URL
v.4: 24-Jan-2017 18:58 - Doug Orleans
Changed development system, description
v.3: 24-Jan-2017 15:31 - Pegbiter
Changed description, Web site URL
v.2: 24-Jan-2017 15:31 - Pegbiter
Changed description
v.1: 24-Jan-2017 15:29 - Pegbiter
Created page