In late July, Mini Motorways and Mini Metro developer Dinosaur Polo Club did something other studios don’t usually do: Announced a new game on its website and social media, then in the same breath, explained why it was canceled . Magic School was in the works for years, and went way beyond the minimalist style of the studio’s first two games. The name tells you a lot about the concept: Magic School was intended to be the opposite of Mini Motorways or Mini Metro — a “maximalist simulation game,” Dinosaur Polo Club co-founder and Magic School designer Robert Curry called it in an interview released alongside the announcement and cancellation of the game.
And what’s more complex than a boarding school for teaching magic? There are systems upon systems set up for classes, housing, meals, and general living — and that exists not only on a day-to-day level for both students and faculty, but over years. If this were another studio, Magic School may have come and gone without any peep of public information about it; the conversations around the game and its end would remain inside the New Zealand studio’s walls. But Dinosaur Polo Club chose a different path as a way to celebrate what its team created, and to enable its staff to use what they’ve created in their portfolios.
This is often an issue with canceled games — a team spends years on a project and when it’s canceled, there’s nothing those team members can show for it due to strict non-disclosure agreemen.