Honestly, it’s kinda weird that we don’t talk about Max: The Curse of Brotherhood more often. Released back when the Xbox One was still trying to find its footing, this sequel to the Wii’s Max & the Magic Marker took a massive leap in production value, but somehow slipped through the cracks for a lot of people. It’s a physics-based puzzle platformer that feels like a playable Pixar movie, yet it’s got teeth. It's frustratingly difficult in spots. It's beautiful.
Most people remember the "Magic Marker" gimmick from the DS or Wii era. You drew stuff. It was clunky. But when Press Play (a now-defunct Danish studio) sat down to make the sequel, they realized they needed more than just a novelty. They needed a world. They needed stakes. The story kicks off with Max being a typical annoyed older brother. He finds a spell online to make his younger brother, Felix, disappear. He reads it. It actually works. A giant claw reaches through a portal and drags Felix into another dimension.
Immediately, the guilt hits. Max jumps in after him.
The Magic Marker is Basically a Weaponized Physics Engine
The core of Max: The Curse of Brotherhood revolves around that giant orange marker. But unlike the first game where you could draw almost anything, this one is structured around "nodes." You can’t just scribble a bridge anywhere you want. You have to find specific points in the environment where the earth is glowing.
It sounds restrictive. It’s actually brilliant design.
By limiting where you can interact with the world, the developers forced you to think about the physics of what you’re creating. You’ll find yourself raising pillars of dirt to reach high ledges or drawing literal vines that you can swing on. Later, you get the ability to create streams of water to push yourself across gaps or even shoot fireballs. The game constantly remixes these abilities. One minute you’re leisurely platforming, and the next, you’re in a high-speed chase where you have to draw a branch, cut it, and use it as a raft—all in about three seconds.
✨ Don't miss: Sex Fallout New Vegas: Why Obsidian’s Writing Still Outshines Modern RPGs
The difficulty curve is steeper than it looks. Seriously. Don't let the "Kiddy" art style fool you. You will die. A lot.
Why the Visuals Still Hold Up in 2026
Even years after its initial 2013 release (and subsequent ports to PS4 and Switch), the game looks incredible. The lighting in the desert levels or the bioluminescence in the caves has a depth that many modern indies struggle to replicate. It uses a 2.5D perspective, meaning the gameplay is on a flat plane, but the world has massive scale. You see giant monsters roaming in the background. You see the Cursed Brotherhood’s influence everywhere.
The "Brotherhood" itself is led by Mustacho, a villain who feels like he stepped right out of a 90s Don Bluth film. He’s menacing but slightly ridiculous. The minions are these weird, bumbling creatures that provide just enough of a threat to keep the puzzles tense.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Controls
If you read old reviews from when the game first dropped on Xbox One, you'll see a lot of complaining about the controller. "Drawing with an analog stick is slow," they said.
They weren't entirely wrong, but they were missing the point. The game isn't trying to be Line Rider. It's a precision tool. When you hold the trigger to pull out the marker, time slows down. This "bullet time" mechanic is the only reason the game is playable. It gives you that heartbeat to breathe, aim, and flick the stick. If you’re playing the Nintendo Switch version, you actually get touch-screen support in handheld mode, which is arguably the "purest" way to play, but there’s a certain tactile satisfaction to using the controller that fits the console experience better.
🔗 Read more: Why the Disney Infinity Star Wars Starter Pack Still Matters for Collectors in 2026
It’s about momentum. If you draw a vine too short, Max can't reach it. If you draw a pillar of earth while Max is standing on it, he gets launched. You have to learn the weight of the objects you’re creating. It’s less about drawing and more about engineering.
The Problem with the "Dead Studio" Stigma
Microsoft closed Press Play in 2016. It was a bummer. Because of that, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood often gets lumped into that category of "abandoned" games. People assume that because the studio is gone, the game isn't worth visiting or that it might be buggy.
Actually, the opposite is true. The game is a polished, finished thought. It doesn't have microtransactions. It doesn't have a "live service" roadmap. It’s a 7 to 10-hour adventure that tells a complete story and then stops. In an era where every game wants 100 hours of your time, there is something incredibly refreshing about Max's journey. It’s a tight, focused experience.
Finding the Secret Pieces of the Amulet
If you’re a completionist, the game gets way harder. There are these "Evil Eyes" hidden throughout the levels—Mustacho is literally watching you—and you have to find them and pull them out of the ground with your marker.
Then there are the Amulet pieces.
💡 You might also like: Grand Theft Auto Games Timeline: Why the Chronology is a Beautiful Mess
Finding these requires you to use the marker in ways the main path never asks for. You’ll have to create complex chain reactions, like using a fireball to burn a vine that drops a rock onto a geyser you just created. It’s the kind of "Aha!" moment-driven gameplay that Portal fans usually crave.
- The Desert Levels: Great for learning how to use earth pillars as shields.
- The Swamp: This is where the vine mechanics get introduced, and the game starts asking you to swing and draw simultaneously.
- Mustacho’s Castle: The final gauntlet. It's punishing but fair.
Is Max: The Curse of Brotherhood Worth It Today?
Yes. Especially if you have kids—or if you just miss the era of the "mascot platformer." It fills a gap between the super-hard "precision platformers" like Celeste and the overly easy LEGO games. It hits that sweet spot of being challenging enough to make you feel smart without being so hard that you want to throw your controller through the TV.
The game is currently available on pretty much everything: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch. It’s frequently on sale for under five bucks. For the price of a coffee, you’re getting one of the most creative use-cases for physics in the platforming genre.
Wait, what about the ending? Without spoiling it, the game wraps up Max and Felix's relationship in a way that feels earned. It’s a story about growing up and realizing that, yeah, your younger sibling is annoying, but you'd go to the ends of the earth (literally) to keep them safe.
Actionable Steps for New Players
If you're jumping in for the first time, keep these things in mind to avoid the common frustrations that turned people off a decade ago:
- Don't Rush the Drawing: The game slows down time for a reason. Use every second of that slowdown to get your angles right. A crooked vine is a useless vine.
- Look for the Glow: Every interactable element has a slight orange shimmer. If you're stuck, stop moving and just look for the spark.
- Physics are Consistent: If a rock looks heavy, it is. If a branch looks flimsy, it will break. Use the environment's visual cues to predict how your creations will behave.
- Experiment with Multi-Node Puzzles: You can often connect things. You can attach a vine to a pillar of earth. You can use a water stream to move a floating log you just cut down. Think in layers.
- Check the "Eyes" Progress: If you miss the Evil Eyes in a level, you can go back via level select. It’s worth doing because the "True Ending" vibes come from seeing the world cleaned of Mustacho's influence.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood isn't just a relic of the early 2010s. It’s a masterclass in how to take a simple gimmick—a marker—and turn it into a deep, mechanical hook that carries an entire world. Go play it.