Prophet Margin intrigued me when I first saw it. It was being spoken about as thought it was a board-game inspired city-builder puzzler – that’s a lot of genres that usually don’t go together, so the curiosity in me took over and I just had to give it a go.
Prophet Margin opens with some gorgeous art work and a rather annoyed god, telling us we need to give him a steady supply of clothing – the resource they demand for this level. They explain to us that we can connect different stations together to eventually end up at the resource we need. For example, we start by mining a mineral at the beginning of the map, which we exchange for food, then clothes, and these feed to the boss at the end.
The concept is simple in nature, but it gets very tricky very quickly, at least it does for me, whose puzzle brain isn’t always attuned. Each level allows you to retry it as much as you like to get it right, and there’s no strict time limit, so you can take your time and really think about it. It’s a thinky city builder, in essence.
You can see where Prophet Margin has board game DNA baked into it, with its hexagonal approach to the layout, and the way everything weaves together seamlessly. I spoke with the developer when I saw the game exhibiting as part of Brilliant Indie Treasures, where he mentioned to me that his intention was to respect your time with this one; you can log in, spend half an hour playing or so where you can, and leave feeling like you’ve meaningfully contributed to your progress, and not need to grind. I appreciate this; especially in the modern day some games feel like full-time jobs.
With some of the levels getting crazy complex the further in you go, if you like to use that noggin of yours, Prophet Margin is right up your street. Go please some gods!
Prophet Margin is due for it’s release on Steam in October 2026.