Potion Craft (2022)

(Note: I played v1.0.5)

Enjoyable and chill alchemist game, love the art style as well. Although it does become a real slog by the end when you need to make the advanced potions, salts and the Philosopher's Stone.

As of writing this there are new updates coming that will supposedly rework the leveling system and hopefully make it less grindy. Will likely check back in on it later to see what's changed.

As for the writing of this, the game is still in early access. There are some promised features that look interesting but that have not been implemented.

Does what it says on the box. I enjoyed pretending to be an alchemist for a little while.

• A little frustrating because it felt like the game was originally designed for touchscreen devices. Frustrating only because I would have preferred to play it on touchscreen but I don't have that option with Steam (not easily at least).
• Suffers the problem most simulation games like this suffer, that there doesn't feel like there is much of a reason to play this game. They try to deal with that by giving you an alchemy machine to spend a ton of time restoring, but I didn't feel like restoring it was emotionally important.

Don't get me wrong. It's certainly an interesting experience. Fantasy Cooking Mama, but slow. Just be aware that what you see is what you get, so make sure you like what you see.

This game is simultaneously on my crackcocaine shelf and on my lost interest shelf and as contradictive as that may sound, I stand by this decision.

The first time I picked it up, it kept me hooked for ten straight hours.

(Definitely not because I was in dire need of a distraction) (or insomnia) (or generally unhealthy sleep habits)

Put simply, it has very satisfying crafting mechanisms that aren't simply repetitive tasks with no added value. Every potion that we craft is actually located on a map that we explore using ingredients to draw our path through it. It's a clever combination of puzzle and area exploration. The potion map is slowly revealed as we encounter new ingredients that allow us to explore it further. I can't tell you how satisfying it was to finally uncover the part of the map with the hallucination potion location.

but wait there's more

Each day, we are greeted by customers that give increasingly ridiculous and bizzare requests. Throughout the day, the sales we succeed or fail in making affect how reputable and popular we are, which in turn can make our trades more or less profitable. We are also able to haggle through a minigame of making small talk. Haggling with a certain silver-haired monster slayer over the topic of monsters? Count me in.

Will we sell a potion of poison to the arrogant noble? What does the man wanting to see like a falcon want?

The amount of customers you are able to help relies heavily on how many potions you've managed to uncover on the map. As the story progresses, you will be prompted by customers to make potions you haven't discovered yet. This means that the majority of the game is spent exploring the map which sometimes leads to discovering new potions or facing a dead end and wasted ingredients.

The innovative exploration mechanics, daily potion crafting requests and the cozy, medieval storybook style reminded me of the first time I played Stardew Valley; saying 'Just one more day' until 3 a.m.

shelf: lost interest

If only there were more customers. If only there was a quicker, more efficient way of moving around the map. If only I could grow more plants.

I've also found myself wishing for a more complex story - I wonder what the consequences of our shop being the most popular in the town are? What other effects have our choices had other than us losing customers or gaining popularity? The rich character designs and dialogues hint at an expansive world just outside our shop door - making me wish we could see more of it.

That being said, it is still a game I see myself getting back to and definitely recommend to anyone wanting to scratch that just-one-more-day itch.

Alota of fun haven't from the couple of hours I've played, but there's a point where it become really Grindy or at least it feels like the game sorta comes to a halt. Since you can't grow your own herbs you end up running out of material, making it impossible to go in a certain direction on the alchemist map. So it just becomes really frustrating, at least for me.

Kinda wish you could grow your own stuff, instead of relying on the merchants to have the right herb. Not a huge set back but it became a noticable annoyance the longer i played.

i would recommend this if your a fan of casual simulator games. I don't plan on finishing it but i enjoyed the time i played.

For such a simple thing, this game (in early access) is a lot of fun.

There's a ton of room for growth, but the game is already chock-full of charm.

The papercraft aesthic is great and their take on alchemy is wonderful. I see a lot of potential for this game and look forward to enjoying it fully when it's more baked and completed.

~David.