When comparing Mind: Path to Thalamus vs The Magic Circle, the Slant community recommends The Magic Circle for most people. In the question“What are the best Exploration games on Steam?” The Magic Circle is ranked 8th while Mind: Path to Thalamus is ranked 30th. The most important reason people chose The Magic Circle is:
There are many ways to play the game, whether that's finding the location of secrets while you're a ghost, or using your resources to scam your way into them while you're alive. Good example? There's a cave across a lava river. You could either make a flat rock fireproof, give it the ability to walk and take orders, jump on it and command it to take you to the other side. OR You can just kill yourself, walk over the river while you're dead, and find a hidden spawn point while in the cave. You find these keys that look important but there's nothing to do with them, along with an old recording log from a former beta tester. You can either be perceptive and find where you need to put the blocks after looking everywhere worth looking, OR You can just read the logs, listening to this tester complain that players don't look up and the puzzle is freakin' stupid and it needs to be erased. After taking the hint, you'll find where you put the keys: Directly above your head.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Fantastic visuals
A surreal looking world that is a dream state of the main character stands out as the best aspect of the game. From the slight movement of the weather to the different structures make for a fantastic looking environment that never allows the player to know what is coming next.
Pro Solid gameplay and puzzles with multiple solutions, and not just an interactive piece of art
There are many ways to play the game, whether that's finding the location of secrets while you're a ghost, or using your resources to scam your way into them while you're alive.
Good example? There's a cave across a lava river. You could either make a flat rock fireproof, give it the ability to walk and take orders, jump on it and command it to take you to the other side.
OR
You can just kill yourself, walk over the river while you're dead, and find a hidden spawn point while in the cave.
You find these keys that look important but there's nothing to do with them, along with an old recording log from a former beta tester.
You can either be perceptive and find where you need to put the blocks after looking everywhere worth looking,
OR
You can just read the logs, listening to this tester complain that players don't look up and the puzzle is freakin' stupid and it needs to be erased. After taking the hint, you'll find where you put the keys: Directly above your head.
Cons
Con Poor story
The voicework of the game is survivable but the story it tells is quite ridiculous. A storm chaser who lost his sister to then become one himself who then lets his daughter of the same name as his sister also take part in the work. Not only is it obvious and contrived but it feels like some poor writing from a low quality cable show.