Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator

This is another Early Access Forever game- the devs still haven't finished multiple major game mechanics and are still promising "more to come!" even though this is supposed to be the 1.0 release. Example: the garden feature has no interactivity, you just collect random plants 1/day. You cannot influence the number or type at all. So why have a separate screen for it? Because those features are supposedly "still coming!" sometime. Same goes for the progression skill tree. Out of four branches, one only speeds up progression, and one is purely convenience, no actual change to the gameplay. "But more will be added soon!" Maybe if the devs ever actually finish the game, it might be worth your time but it certainly isn't right now.

I cannot lie - I was lured by this game's graphics. Yet I stayed for the gameplay. Potion Craft is about making potions, managing the ingredients and solving the customers problems. Crafting system is really ingenious; it's not repetitive and boring: "I've collected 50 scrap metal and 100 wood, so I have to click 50 times to make 50 swords". Potion making is an art. You've got some sort of map - adding of each ingredient results in taking a different path, leading to the desired potion effect. Sounds simple, yet some effects need careful planning and it's quite satisfying. What I like the most in this game, however, is not the gameplay mechanics - yet the lovely, comfy atmosphere. You're sitting in a nice house, collecting herbs, welcoming guests, making potions and haggling - and it feels just good. For parents - it's a pretty good game for playing with children (or anyone, who's not really into video games). You just need to make the "thinking" part, leaving using mortar and pestle or stirring part for children. Rather for casuals than for hard players - it's not about challenge (it's really simple game), but a comfy atmosphere and exploration. This game forgives many mistakes and does not require perfection, moreover you can save anytime you want. I can recommend this.

Potion Craft is, in may ways, a very simple game, centred around a single mechanic. The single mechanic is excellent, but the game is kinda thin on the ground. That said, Potion Craft manages to do something that no other game has managed to do before: it reminds of pure maths research. It's a difficult thing to convey to people who aren't familiar, but researching pure maths is a singular joy. It's more than a puzzle, it's a suprisingly creative endeavour. To write a new proof, to find an elegant, logical path from what's known to something interesting, feels like the creation of an artwork. It's not just functional, you want it to be aesthetically pleasing. You want all who read it to connect with it, for it to impart some small part of the lightning bolt of understanding/inspiration that struck you. So, you polish it, tweak it, stir in small adjustments, until it shines. Then it's time to publish it, and hope people use your path to get to even greater places. When it's at its best, Potion Craft evokes all of this. You find paths to new potion effects, and on finding them, try to find efficient, elegant paths that save ingredients, but also deliver potions that are as powerful as possible. Like in maths, there are strict rules governing how you can get there, but also, there are a huge number of complex tools to help you get there. It's all about using the tools you have in creative ways, to get where you want. There are no prescribed paths, and the game has enough depth to allow for less straightforward solutions. You will enjoy burning ingredients to explore, and then enjoy tightening your recipe until it's cheap and powerful enough to be worth recording in your book. So yeah, mostly just this one mechanic, so the game is repetitive. But, the experience is pretty unique.

The gameplay loop is super addictive and enjoyable. The art style is also very enjoyable and the sounds of crunching ingredients is 100/10 satisfying. I wish there were a few more potion cooking sound effects, but even without them I love the game.