Game Review: Potion Craft Alchemist Simulator

 

New Cozy Game for this week.  Potion Craft.

Potion craft is an alchemist sim game, and when you say it like that it sounds really boring. There's a really nice relaxing rhythm to this game.  Check the garden, sell your potions, try to earn as much money as you can so you can buy and fix equipment..rinse repeat. 

I love that there's no action, or urgency. The music is relaxing as you sit and figure out the puzzle of how to make the potions the towns people require. The game starts out with a simple story of how you came to the town and an alchemist shop was currently vacant.  You move in and take over the business. There's a garden that provides some of the materials you will need once a day, and a book that helps direct you with tasks that you need to complete for each chapter.

The puzzle aspect was unique, in that you use the materials to navigate a map, while keeping your potion icon out of the skull areas so your potion doesn't fail. Initially the potions are simple and straight forward, but soon you will have to hunt around the map for the ingredient you need, each one getting further and further from your starting point and getting more and more challenging to reach. You can fill your book out with paper to save the potions you make, so you can go back to them with a click of a button instead of working the map again. 

Once you learn how to make potions, you can open your shop and sell to the townspeople.  They come in letting you know what ails them, and you have to figure out what kinds of potions they get. This is part of the puzzle, because if you place the wrong potion they won't want to buy it. Customer's get upset if you aren't able to provide the potion they need, or if you give them the wrong kind of potion too many times. When you turn away customers or make them upset it affects your reputation which affects the kinds of customers you get. 

As the game progresses, the puzzles you solve get more and more complicated.  You work on building your equipment in the basement to make even more complicated potions. The game feels endless, and after a number of hours I don't feel like I've come close to reaching the end.  It's pretty simple to figure out the game mechanics with little lengthy instructions to follow.   

Overall I've really enjoyed relaxing to this game. I think my favorite part about the game is the "Witcher" cameo. The cozy atmosphere, beautiful graphics, easy interface, and relaxing music make it an easy choice to relax to.

Difficulty level: Moderate

Publisher: Tinybuild

Release date: 12/13/2022

Genre: puzzle game/sim

Available on  Xbox, Playstation (spring 23), Switch (spring 23), PC (through Steam or Xbox).

Photo Credit: Potion Craft Press Kit

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Game Review: Unpacking

I'm sure it may come to no surprise, I don't spend all my time reading books. In 2023 I've decided to expand my reviews a bit to include video games. This is my first video game review, so hold on to your hats.  It's a relaxing cozy little game called  Unpacking by Witchbeam.

Synopsis:

This is a puzzle game, and you follow the life of someone through context clues in what you're unpacking. Unpacking begins in their childhood 90's home, and we follow their life through each move, from college, to relationships, to break ups, and more. In each of these moves you have to upack the boxes and find a place for each item.  Items have a specific area they need to be placed...clothes in the closet, books on a shelf, etc. You also get a nice little relaxing ASMR affect as you put things away.

Storyline:

I love how Unpacking tells you a story with out using any words or text. You can tell with some sentimental items that you see packed over and over again. Their stuffed pig, the Eifle Tower..or even some posters that we keep seeing, but with a little wear each time we unpack it. The soccer ball that gets traded in for the weights and yoga mat, and the family pictures that were framed or put on the fridge. 

Gameplay and Graphcis:

The gameplay is easy. Just click on the box, an item pops out and you can place it.  Right click to turn it around. You can click on drawers, and cabinet doors to place items inside. You can also click to the neighoring room if the item doesn't belong in the room you're in.

The graphics are basic, nothing too elaborate. If you look closely at some of the books and videos you might see something that resembles familiar things. The music is calm and relaxing, and not too loud that you can still hear the statisfying sound of your items being put away.

Overall, Unpacking was a surprisingly enjoyable game. I finished the game in just a few hours, and felt it was clean enough to let me eight year old also play it. He didn't like it as much as I did though. Any one who is looking for a stress free, puzzle type, game to unwind with would enjoy this game.

Difficulty level: Easy

Release date: 11/2/2021

Genre: puzzle game

Available on  Xbox, Playstation, Switch, PC (through Steam).

Disclaimer: I purchased this game on my own, and gave it an honest review.  There are links to Amazon, clicking these links won't cost you anything but any purchase helps support this blog.

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