The game follows Captain Lance Magneto as he attempts to capture the Crown of Control, a mind-control device being used to commit piracy around the planet Rigel IV.
By modern standards the map is quite small, wrapping around after about three window-sizes, the windows remaining limited to the original 512 × 384 resolution of the early Macs.
Most of the map consists of various "buildings", including the broken remains of Magneto's ship, as well as a useful apple tree and a small island.
Captain Lance Magneto of the Intergalactic Rangers, crash-landed on an alien planet to find the space pirate named The Menturg.
Al Evans created "Cap'n Magneto" as part of overcoming a terrible car crash, in which he received extreme burns to his body.
[2] After an eclectic life full of computer programming, music, artwork, and friends around the world, Al Evans died at home surrounded by family on July 19, 2022.
"[2] Macworld named the Macintosh version of Cap'n Magneto the "Best of Show" as part of its Shareware and Public Domain Game Awards in 1987.
Cap'n Magneto successfully combines arcadelike features with the puzzle-solving spirit of a good adventure game.
"[5] In 1989, MacUser magazine named Cap'n Magneto one of the 200 best Macintosh products, calling it "an old favorite that's still popular" and enjoyable despite being "crude compared with some more recent games.