Developer: niceplay games
Publisher: tinyBuild
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator – Preview
After its Early Access release at the end of September, niceplay games’ Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator is doing quite well by the looks of the many praises and ‘Very Positive’ reviews on Steam. In fact, the game has sold over 100k copies since its release! Let us see if Potion Craft is really as good as people claim.
As the title might suggest, Potion Craft is a simulation game that focuses most on, well… crafting potions – and that’s exactly what we’ll be doing, seeing as we play as a novice alchemist.
After traveling around the world for a long time – in search of your true destiny – you stumble upon an old abandoned house on the edge of a town. On closer inspection of the land and what was left behind, you discover that the house used to be owned by a wizard who was also passionate about alchemy, just like yourself. It hurts to see all the impressive equipment and tools gathering dust, so you decide to settle in and turn the house into a little potion shop.
Potion Craft is clearly set in Medieval times. If the beautiful visuals made to look like it’s drawn on parchment paper didn’t make that clear, the tavern/bard music that’s on a loop will be a dead giveaway. The music is enjoyable at first, but after a few hours, it becomes a bit annoying. Giving us a little more variety in-between wouldn’t hurt.
The UI for the game is clear – not overwhelming – and the icons are quite evident for what their purpose is. If not, you can just simply hover over them for an explanation. The only complaint we have with the explanations/tutorial is that there’s too much text to read. It’s always a whole paragraph we need to go through. Some parts could be simplified, or perhaps animated? Or may we even suggest voice-overs?
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator surprisingly has a lot of variety in its gameplay and there’s quite a lot to do. You physically interact with your tools and ingredients to brew potions. You’re also in full control of the whole shop, which includes managing it; maintaining the inventory, inventing new recipes, attracting and serving customers, etc. Each has its own fun mechanics that makes every task fun to do. Inventing the potions can get a bit tedious, however, since you are left to your own devices. There’s a lot of trial and error for this part of the game. Besides this, there’s barely any challenge to the gameplay. Perhaps some time-sensitive challenges with customers’ demands or crafting could do the trick.
For now, this is all you can do in the game. The gameplay is set in one day and you repeat the whole cycle again the next day. It does get repetitive after a while. This Early Access version of Potion Craft is great for some occasional relaxing gaming. Sadly, without challenges, it’s not something that can keep you going. Not even the achievements/goals you can get in-game manage to keep you entertained if you’re a casual fan of the genre.
That all being said, Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator has great potential! It gives us a lot of content for just being a crafting simulation game. With the developer’s note on the full version, we have no doubt that the game would be even more of a success than it is now.
“In the current version, the player is already able to interact with the Alchemy Machine, which will be the main tool to progress towards creating a Philosopher’s Stone. We are going to introduce more potion effects, recipes, ingredients, and potion bases. The process of running the potion shop will also expand, as players will be able to upgrade their garden, work on their reputation and develop their alchemist talents. To make sure making potions doesn’t become a routine, certain customers will request potions with special conditions. We also have plans for numerous quality of life improvements, for which we would need a lot of player feedback.”
Conclusion
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator is fun, relaxing, and can keep you busy for a certain amount of time. There’s a lot of reading, but some might just find that a good thing. Especially with the enjoyable medieval aesthetics in place for the game’s visuals and music, you’re in for a treat. There’s a lot to do for a simple crafting simulation game, which is always a plus. Sadly, there are not many challenges as of yet but we can’t forget that this already-impressive title is only in Early Access. As the developer’s note said: “there’s more to come”. We are curious to see what the final version of the game will end up becoming.
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator – Preview,
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