[1] Players must assemble a group of six adventurers and journey across the kingdom of Deruvia to keep the demon Dreax imprisoned in the eponymous magic candle, which has begun to melt.

Unlike many computer games, one wins not by defeating a final enemy, but by collecting the necessary items and learning the necessary chants in order to preserve the magic candle.

[7] Scorpia in 1993 was more critical of The Magic Candle III, with objections including a shortage of money at the start forcing the player to grind instead of questing, and imbalanced dungeons.

They wrote that "richly inventive, smoothly playable, filled with user-friendly attention to detail, The Magic Candle stands out dramatically in a very crowded field".

The series also spawned two spin-offs: Siege (1992) and its sequel Ambush at Sorinor (1993) are tactical strategy games, both taking place in the world of The Magic Candle.