Hogwarts Legacy will be making the rounds in headlines and player count from recently to undoubtedly up until the end of this year — or even well after it. For those who still have to wait for its release on non-current gen consoles, here are a few Alchemy/Potion based games that deserve just as much time and attention.
Be it due to playing as a witch, utilizing magic to save NPCs, or for simply embodying an alchemist-in-training in a game with a core gameplay loop mechanic being resource managing with a potion motif, there’s plenty to enjoy in the meantime!
10 Best Alchemy Games That Let You Brew Potions
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator
This right here is exactly what you want if you are seeking a straightforward potion crafting game. We may say straightforward at face value however, since its complexity shows itself quickly once its steep learning curve presents itself. Its challenging nature solidifies just how exceptionally tricky its design for its core crafting system really is, making each and every discovery when exploring maps just as exciting as the previous find.
With its relaxing atmospheric from its subtle soundtrack to its gorgeous and medieval themed art style and illustrations, Potion Craft is a modern, quintessential alchemy video game.
Wylde Flowers
Stardew Valley but with Witches is a pretty apt way to sum up Wylde Flowers, and should hopefully be the only sentence we need to say to pique your interest. But there’s plenty of unique appeal to Studio Drydock’s debut title. With every single ones of its characters coming to life thanks to being fully voiced acted, being able to romance the few marriageable candidates is the cherry on top of an already delightful and bustling small town you will miss as soon as it and its residents welcome you with open arms.
It goes without saying however that its biggest pull and most exclusive feature is as a farming sim, half of its day-to-day functions and story progression requirements does not come from tending to your farm space. It’s to become a full-fledged witch. The player has two main missions when it comes to Wylde Flowers — becoming a part of Fairhaven as well as its very own secret Witch coven through fulfilling quests by concocting up as many potions as the year allows you to!
Witchy Life Story
Witchy Life Story offers a wholesome and feel-good time for a witchy tale. As a cozy title that demands little from the player as one of the easier titles on our list, it asks a simple question as the micro-mainline quest it has for the player — will they help or hex the small village of Flora as its newest witch?
With an amazing amount of customization options for its player character, an easy to get to gripes with gameplay loop involving foraging, brewing and gardening as you choose whether or not to help its locals in time for the harvest festival in two weeks time. Aesthetically pleasing and comedic as well as being unexpectedly chaotic at its very best, Witchy Life Story is a stupidly fun time.
Atelier series
The Atelier series has been around since 1997, with its latest upcoming game being a remake of its very first game in the long-running series; Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg. With so many notable series entries, it can be hard to pick out just one out of the 19 that are available for western players. If there was just one element that was unanimous for the series as a key staple, it’s with the core gameplay being alchemy based (other than its genre being a JRPG).
With each mainline game tending to be just slightly different enough in its system to make for a refreshing enough take on its prime component for the series, it’s safe to say that Atelier is one of the stand-out examples in representing said theme.
Potionomics
Potonomics is a wholesome, potion-based capitalistic indie gem of a game. Learn to head your very own family potion shop, left behind by your deceased uncle with a heaps worth of debt still need clearing from running it. Getting to gripes with running the store is just one caveat of the entire game — complete requests, haggle your way to increased profits, turn the tides of the economical value of the land and charm your way through bonding with your fellow vendors to further flesh out its gameplay mechanics and depth of its world.
Characters are worth noting to be just as much of a highlight as its addictive gameplay loop since they are engaging, wonderfully designed and modelled, and are incredibly charismatic and loveable. It’s easy to blink and miss the fact that you have poured hours upon hours of time in the game as soon as you pick it up.
Potion Permit
Potion Permit is easily the most simple and accessible game on the list, especially for a game all about alchemy that tends to have quite a challenging system to represent it. Potion Permit commits to going back to basics in this respect as a very easy to play title. Based mostly on fetch quests with a focus being on foraging over everything else, Potion Permit is the most stress-free experience to be had on this list.
It’s a feel-good time with the player character tasked to help, cure and support the residents of Moonbury, upgrade the town and other locations through bonding with its townsfolk and explore, fish and fight across its land with your trusty dog companion besides you every step of the way.
Related: Top 10 Best Games Similar to Potion Permit
Arcadia Fallen
As a magic-based visual novel with a clear vision and fully realized execution of having a main character be completely shapeable and molded in the way the player wants. As a charming and comforting experience where players have full control in every way whereby its story progression allows for no choices to be wrong (every single choice of yours is valid) and it has as much character customization as it comes with, Arcadia Fallen hits all the notes one would hope it does.
Play it to take the road down its journey with a more romantic lenses verses fully embracing the character development of its player character becoming an alchemy master – the choice is yours. To really change the flow of the story and world around you, immerse yourself in its core gameplay mechanic of its alchemy puzzles to save others, explore the land and solves its mysteries.
Royal Alchemist
Royal Alchemist is a “survival stats-raising otome/BL RPG” that sounds as tough as its exact slogan depicts it to be. Chock full of numerous bad endings that will confront and easily defeat the player with a prompt game over screen, Royal Alchemist is one of the most underrated indie visual novels out there for its narrative design and challenge alone.
Players will have to consider the very best strategy to beat the game with perfecting what its two stat-raising systems wants from you, balancing of all the prioritizes that comes with tutoring its Royal Princes and dedicating the right amount of attention to all points of interest – romance, studies and kingdom’s perception of you, just to name a few. As a political drama with stakes, twists and turns at every corner (other than your untimely death) with exceptionally brilliant character depth and writing, Royal Alchemist is stupendous.
My Lovely Wife
My Lovely Wife is easily the darkest game of this list despite how much death surrounds that previous title. Going the full mile with what the definition of “undying love” means, this unique concoction of alchemy, romance and management is a tricky and dramatic portrayal of a romance game gone frightfully wrong.
As the sequel to My Lovely Daughter, its Gothic visuals and design alongside its macabre story progression of once again deceiving others to regain what you once lost is a difficult one to have a literal hand in. It’s not all bad depending on the ending you reach, but the dark and morbid journey is certainly an unforgettable one that plays as a reminder that overcoming grief is always the best step forward.
That’s it for this list. We hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading. Please check out Gamer Journalist on Facebook to join the discussion and keep up to date with our content and check out similar articles of ours such as our guide pieces on Potion Craft for more from us here at Gamer Journalist: All Potion Craft Recipes and How to Unlock Them. Happy playing!
