Potion Craft: Casual Gaming Can Be Magic!
For some time now, I’ve found myself frustrated when looking for a casual game. I haven’t been in the mood to mindlessly match objects or navigate mazes, but I also wanted something that didn’t feature fast-paced gaming or combat.
I wanted an environment that felt alive but relaxed, one that I could seamlessly step into and explore. Potion Craft, published by tinyBuild, has been a delight for when I am seeking a relaxed, artfully crafted gaming experience.
Potion Craft is an alchemical simulator developed by niceplay games and released in December 2022. You play as an alchemist selling your wares to townsfolk in a rich medieval world in which wizards are not only real, but they also politely request mana potions from you. Knights not only fight dragons; they offer to pay you well for potions to prepare for their battles.
The game’s art style resembles medieval woodcuts in lush earth tones, and the potion crafting game mechanic operates like a map the alchemist can explore through different combinations and treatments of ingredients.
Your clientele varies wildly. Some customers are regular townsfolk and farmers looking for balms to the woes of daily life through potions to speed up crop growth, act as lanterns, or heal sickness. Others are wizards, mages, or warriors seeking your assistance with developing new spells or fighting monsters.
However, your alchemist has also discovered a secret alchemy machine in your shop’s basement, and experimenting with different potions can lead the player to magical substances, including the philosopher’s stone.
I most enjoyed playing this game with the narrative that selling potions was merely my alchemist’s day job, and my character’s true goal was the pursuit of knowledge and eternal life.
There is no time management mechanic that can often be pesky in simulator games, so Potion Craft makes for a great casual game to check in on when you’re feeling like stepping into a medieval fantasy.
The game features charming dialogue from customers seeking different potions. You can craft and sell potions of fire, healing, and frost at first. However, as you advance, you can come across more esoteric effects such as slipperiness, gluing, and wild growth.
Players looking to maximize profit can haggle with shopkeepers when buying ingredients or with customers when selling potions.
Potion Craft also allows you to choose your alchemist’s own moral alignment. If you find yourself crafting poisons for unsavory nobles and strength potions for robbers, your moral alignment will dip into evil.
However, if you turn those people away and choose instead to make healing potions for the sick and injured or help farmers grow their crops faster, your moral alignment will tip further into good, and you’ll get fewer evil customers.
Your backyard is called the Enchanted Garden, as it grows some of the ingredients you’ll need. For many other ingredients, you’ll need to develop working relationships with gardeners, mushroom gatherers, and other shopkeepers selling you their wares. Make potions for them and don’t try to cheat them out of money, and your relationship with them will grow.
Potion Craft allows you to explore the day-to-day life of an alchemist and the relationships you might develop. Your wares and transactions are peacefully removed from stressful combat or time mechanics. For anyone looking for an immersive simulator experience, Potion Craft might be the tonic that lets you fight dragons or make magic from the peace of your own virtual shop.
