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Genre: Alchemical crafting simulator
Developer: niceplay games
Publisher: tinyBuild
Release Date: December 13th, 2022
Edited by AlexKnight2005
Back in the middle ages, people had to deal with many different problems. Many decided to solve them by turning to nature and alchemy. But is there a concoction to deal with all issues of the day? That is up for you to find out in Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator.
As a young wannabe alchemist, you stumble upon a small town where you find an old house that probably previously belonged to someone who meddled in the alchemy trade. And it is what you need to begin your career, expand your knowledge, and possibly unlock the ancient mystery and achieve what none managed to do before. To acquire a Philosopher’s Stone.
Since the game isn’t about lots of action, the only options you can choose from involving graphics are whether you want to see frames per second counter, whether you want the FPS to be limited, and your choice of playing the game in a window or a borderless window. But don’t get yourself fooled. Even though you might not expect much action or effects, Potion Craft has another ace up its sleeve.
The art style is something that will catch your eye immediately. The game seems like it was taken out of medieval books. Every single detail looks hand-drawn and styled to look very old. All the colors are very natural and decent, and even if you see many different bright colors, none of them break these old recipe book visuals.
Speaking of medieval, the soundtrack goes along the art very well and will transport you back to the old days. After a while, you might feel like you traveled back in time because the music greatly helps with the immersion.
And while on the matters of the whole sound feeling, even though you won’t be getting too many different sound effects, the ones you will be listening to throughout the whole gameplay are pretty much spot on. Whether you need to use the pestle and mortar, the cauldron, or the bellows. It all feels very natural and properly fitting.
Now, the game itself is happening in the players’ house, which is split between several screens that are easy to switch between. The garden, where you will be growing many of the required ingredients. The basement will later on help you experiment with your creations to figure out the secret legendary recipes. Then we have the shop, where you will interact with your potential customers, and of course, the bedroom, which I don’t think I need to explain further. And all of this surrounds the heart of your residence, the alchemy laboratory.
This is where all the magic happens. And it is a concept that I find unique. Because You don’t make the potions by blindly following a preset recipe. Yes, you will get the same result by following the same steps, but there are many ways to achieve that goal. It’s because every single ingredient draws a “road” along a map. Every kind of a different flower, mushroom, or crystal has a unique path they make, and following that path not only gets you to your desired outcome but also allows you to explore and discover new effects for your potions, as well as slowly gain experiences to gain access to some upgrades.
Once you are ready to start your career as a successful alchemist, it’s time for the customers. And as much as this part seems pretty straightforward, many factors still make it challenging. This is very welcome because, after some time, the game could start to feel a little bit like a grind. To fight against that, people will ask you to make a potion for them, but sometimes they just give you very general requirements, and it will be up to you to find out what exactly it is they need. The challenge is that you only get three attempts before they get upset and leave, slightly damaging your popularity.
And popularity is one of two things you have to keep your eye on. The higher it is, the more customers you will be getting. It also affects how much money you can get for completing orders. It even can get you discounts from traveling merchants who will be bringing you more unique ingredients.
The second thing to check is your reputation. This is what decides what kind of customers will be attracted to your shop. If you start turning your reputation to evil, you might find the amounts of poison or necromancy potion orders increasing.
You won’t have to deal with any difficult controls to achieve all of this. They are pretty simple, and you only need your mouse and a few keys on your keyboard. Or, if you want, you can easily use your controller. And even though I am not much of a controller user, I found it quite fun to play with a gamepad. Again you won’t be faced with much of a challenge and will quickly get a grasp of it.
All things considered, Potion Craft is a very relaxed and unique gaming experience that can pleasantly surprise you even if you have no high expectations from it.
Pros:
- Beautiful art style.
- Very unique gameplay.
- Easy-to-learn controls.
Cons:
- Very limited graphics options.
- It can start to feel like a slow-progressing grind.
Coipher gives Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator a Drastik Measure of 7.6 out of 10.0 (76)