Potion Craft

Potion Craft – Embrace the Art of Potion Making

Double, Double Toil, and Trouble!

A Medieval Alchemy Sim

Developed by niceplay games, Potion Craft is an indie simulation game available for PC that offers a unique exploration of the fantastical world of potion-making. With its sandbox-style gameplay, there are several different routes for players to take as they work to develop their shop.

In this simulation game, you can roleplay as different characters, having your own means for practicing alchemy whether you're helping the townsfolk out of the goodness of your heart, or you are in it purely for greed. There’s still plenty left to develop considering it’s currently in Early Access, so players can expect more features in the future.

Take on the Role of an Alchemist – Thrive or Fail

How well or how poorly you do in Potion Craft is purely up to you. In the beginning, you are just about clueless about running a shop and crafting potions. However, you have more than enough room to grow and learn along the way.

You get to purchase ingredients from traveling merchants or opt to grow them yourself. It’s a game that requires you to be hands-on seeing as you have to mill ingredients and use the various equipment properly to craft potions.

The townsfolk that come to buy your creations vary in their morals and needs so you get to see a handful of different characters as you play.

Concept Rating: 4/5

An Authentic Medieval Setting

One of the things that instantly stands out about Potion Craft is its appearance. The illustrations allow this game to look as though it was plucked right out of a medieval medical book or manuscript. Even the people that visit your shop boast looks and clothing related to the time in history.

There’s even charming music reminiscent that further pulls you into the setting.

Graphics & Audio Rating: 4/5

Learn How to Craft the Perfect Potions

Though there’s not much of a storyline here, it’s not so simple as to click and go. Rather, the game makes you think about the best way to make a potion. There are several paths to take even for a single potion. Some are efficient while others may require you to use too many ingredients.

You can choose to mill some ingredients or leave them whole as they offer different approaches. Add a bit of water to change up the mixture too. When mixing, you’ll head toward a highlighted path so that you know just how much or how little you need to mix to reach a certain potion. There are symbols to help you out so you know what you’re making. For example, a heart for a healing potion and a knife for poison.

As a mouse-based game, you must manually add ingredients, mill them, pour water, mix the cauldron, and stoke the fire to create the potion. Of course, when you find the best route, you can save a recipe so that the potion is instantly made when you need it next time. There is a talent tree that you can use XP on, and you can gain more XP by completing different goals.

As for the customers, they each have a dialogue about what they want and why they want it. You can even haggle with customers if you’d like, and there’s a slight mini-game for that as well.

A cool thing about this game though is that you don’t have to sell to everyone. There will be some obvious evil characters that come to your shop, and if you sell to them, know that you will get a bad hit on your reputation. Of course, if you want to be that evil mastermind potion maker, sell away.

Gameplay Rating: 4/5

A Charming Potion Sim Worth Checking Out

Potion Craft is still in development, but there’s plenty of heart seen in the base game already. Even though you have to weigh your options on how you want to make a potion or if a customer is right to sell to, it’s still relaxing and enjoyable.

We look forward to seeing what extras the developers come up with for the full release.

Replayability Rating: 4/5

TL;DR

Potion Craft is a fun alchemy-based simulator that puts you in the role of potion maker with fully interactive ingredients and tools where you can experiment, make new recipes, and sell to the townsfolk.