The patched version was received more positively by reviewers.

The last official patch version 1.31, released in March 1995, fixed many of the bugs and implemented updates to the AI. Master of Magic 's early versions had many bugs, and were heavily criticized by reviewers. While it never received a direct sequel, a number of other games published since have been described as inspired by it, and reviewers and players remain divided on whether any has succeeded at recapturing the feeling and gameplay of the original. Sometimes described as a fantasy-themed spin-off of classic Civilization or sci-fi themed Master of Orion, it has proven to be quite enduring, becoming a cult classic in its niche of fantasy-themed 4X strategy games. The game was developed by Simtex and published by MicroProse for MS-DOS in 1994.

From a small settlement, the player manages resources, builds cities and armies, and researches spells, growing an empire and fighting the other wizards. Master of Magic (abbreviated as MoM) is a single-player, fantasy turn-based 4X strategy game in which the player plays as a wizard attempting to dominate two linked worlds.