There exists a game out there that is so wonderful, simplistic, and fun. 
That it may make you feel like your Elias Ainsworth from the hit anime The Ancient Magus’ Bride; this game is called Potion Craft, and as the name would suggest, you’re an Alchemist!
In Potion Craft, you are tasked; with opening your own Apothecary. You have just moved into a new town and found an abandoned old house. This home was previously owned; by a Wizard and the town’s prior Alchemist! Your task is simple; clean up the house and rebuild the old technology inside, but more importantly, you have to make potions. Now that doesn’t sound too hard, does it?
Well, I hate to disappoint you! But it is, however, not to the degree of this game being difficult enough to throw our controller.
Potion Craft is a game that focuses on the uniqueness of the potions and how; you craft them. You must use the materials that grow in your garden or that you buy from individuals who come into your shop who want to sell you wares, these people you can barter for lower prices. The garden you have is enchanted, so every day. You get new materials or some new random materials from it; mix them up in your cauldron, grind them up in your mortar and pedestal, and finally, heat your brew with the bellows, and viola! You now have a perfectly crafted hand-brewed potion!
When crafting a potion, it is crucial to note that after you add your resources to the cauldron and begin to stir it around to mix it up together. You cannot auto-pilot this and say I can do this! I did it this way before! Potion Craft will punish you for it, and this is because the devil is in the details.
The potion you are brewing could take exactly six or seven stirs to get your potion where you want it. And over-mixing it may yield a weaker potion, over-shooting your odds of making the potion which could cost more resources to fix, or worse of all, the potion; could ultimately fail.
However, if you record your potions in your alchemist tome of which, it is limited; you could make a really difficult; potion much easier to make. Then you could rely on your alchemist tome to recreate the potion automatically, but there are a limited number of slots in your alchemist tome, so it is best to use it strictly for the difficult; potions. However, failing; a potion or even over-shooting it while you are stirring is not the end of the world. Because when you are crafting a potion you can collect an alchemist experience, which could unlock additional features, and skills and is used to help progress through the game.
Then once you have finished your first few Potions in Potion Craft, what you can do then; is haggle with customers about how much your potions cost. Doing; this helps bring in gold for your little Apothecary and keeps you well supplied so; that you can buy more upgrades and rebuild sections of your beat-up little cottage house.
If; I was to boil it all down and make it more digestible like a healing potion. The simple fact is that Potion Craft is a simple but very engaging and chill game. I like it, it is not too tedious in its mechanics or the micro-managing, and it does have a lot of wiggle room for failure. It is a game that does not punish you for failing. And all it truly does is just set you back a bit more and I appreciate that. When you have hundreds of games out there that will stress a person out over a minor setback, Potion Craft does not do that.
I would; recommend this game if you are looking for a simple, enjoyable, and relaxing good time where you can feel like you are an Alchemist. And also haggle with the local population to pay five times the asking price for a health tonic.
An autistic gamer with opinions on games who also enjoys making dumb videos on the internet!