Potions are an incredibly common sight in nearly every medieval or fantasy game, as players often use them to heal in battle, regain mana for spells, gain helpful buffs to their stats, and more. What if you could play as the alchemist that carefully brews these concoctions instead of the heroes and adventurers that rely on them, though?
This is the experience that Potion Craft, a new alchemy simulator from niceplay games, aims to provide. The game has been playable since 2021, but now, it has officially exited Early Access and the 1.0 launch version of Potion Craft is available now.
Here’s a complete overview of everything you can expect from the game, including all of its gameplay features,, which platforms it’s available to play on, and more.
Become the alchemist master you’ve always wanted to be
In Potion Craft, you start in the role of a humble town alchemist. With the herbs, mushrooms, and other ingredients grown in your special Enchanted Garden and your brewing apparatus, you have the ability and a duty to create helpful potions for the village folk. While things start relatively basic, you’ll soon gain the ability to craft more powerful and exotic elixirs by properly tending to your garden, growing or buying new ingredients, upgrading your equipment, and discovering new recipes through experiments or trades with visiting travelers.
Of course, this process isn’t cheap, meaning you’ll need to price your wares carefully. Will you keep your prices affordable and accept slow progress in order to win the favor of your customers? Or will you hike prices up, sacrificing your reputation by haggling to speed up your alchemical discoveries? How about a balanced, middle-of-the-road approach? Ultimately, the choice is yours, and you’re free to accomplish your goals however you see fit. You even have options to roleplay as a sinister occultist if you’d prefer to go the “bad guy” route, as your alchemy skills can be used to brew deadly poisons and other diabolical elixirs.
There are additional ways to customize and personalize your experience as well. The colors, labels, and shapes of your potion bottles can be changed to suit your preferences, as can their placement and position on your store’s displays and shelves. These options let you design a shop that actually feels like your own.
A style inspired by history itself
In terms of its aesthetic, Potion Craftis heavily inspired by the flourish-filled medieval manuscripts and medical books of old. Much like these real-world documents, each in-game screen features a variety of small, colorful, and vibrant illustrations. The negative space in each frame also has a textured parchment-like appearance, which fits the game’s theme beautifully.
The visual style is also bolstered by the physicality of the potion-making process. You don’t just press a button to grind your ingredients with a mortar and pestle or to stir the base of your brew in your cauldron—you complete these actions by using mouse movements that mimic what you’d have to do in the real world. Not only does this make the experience engaging, but it also looks great since everything is animated smoothly and with plenty of detail.
Finally, the game’s score and sound effects compliment Potion Craft’s art direction pleasantly, rounding out the game’s presentation. Ingredients crackle and crunch satisfyingly as you grind them, and finished brews bubble actively when you bottle them up and prepare them for sale. The soundtrack, meanwhile, is heavily inspired by the music of the Middle Ages, complete with a variety of tunes played with the instruments of the era.
What’s new with Potion Craft 1.0?
What if you’ve played Potion Craft while it was in Early Access? Does the launch version of the game have anything new? This is something that many fans are no doubt wondering, and thankfully, there’s good news: the 1.0 version of Potion Craft has a substantial number of additions that will spice up the experience for even the most experienced players.
Compared to the Early Access version, the launch edition features 400 unique new potion orders to complete, with most of them finishable in several different ways. There are also now 26 unique quests for the Herbalist, Mushroomer, and Dwarf Miner NPCs, expanding on how players can interact with these characters. It’s also now possible to roleplay as an evil character yourself, as you can choose to serve and prioritize the needs of nefarious NPCs like rogues.
Additionally, the 1.0 update makes it possible to talk about 17 different topics while haggling, which you’ll be able to bring up in conversation contextually depending on who you’re chatting with. For example, you’ll be able to win favor with a wizard by discussing magic with him. These speech options reward attentive players that pay close attention to the desires and beliefs of each individual customer.
Where can you play Potion Craft?
Now that Potion Craft has officially released and isn’t in Early Access anymore, you can purchase and play it on a number of different platforms and storefronts. On PC, you can get the game on Steam, the Epic Games Store, or on GOG. You can also play Potion Craft on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S systems, and even have the option of getting it on Xbox Game Pass.
For more on Potion Craft, check out the game’s official website. Also, don’t forget to like its Facebook page as well for updates on social media.
