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I wouldn't recommend Potion Permit, and this is coming from a guy who has been playing Farm and Life Simulators since Harvest Moon on the Gameboy. It looks like it should be a charming Farm/life/shop simulator, but it really isn't. The gameplay loop is really bad, it's either run and talk to villagers to increase their once-daily friendship stat increase, or fast travel to the forest area and farm the same exact mobs and resource nodes that you've been farming for the last 7 in-game days. All the progress unlocks that I have seen are literally just grind up wood/stone/money and maybe the occasional 'talk to this NPC', and then they open up a new area with differently skinned resource nodes and more mobs. As for the main gimmick of the game, curing villagers and whatnot... It gets old about 3 sick villagers in. You play a 'babby's first rhythm game' over and over, and then make a randomized potion that the game wants. Everything about it is unfun, tedious and annoying. Other than the graphics, the villager interactions are nice and every new level of friendship brings a cutscene/quest. Those are well written, but the solution is almost always a random fetch quest or make a potion (which as we've established, is quite boring). I wouldn't recommend it, unless you really are jonesing for an on-rails, grindy experience. Cute graphics, and competently written, but pretty unfun. Varsity fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Sep 27, 2022 |
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Sep 27, 2022 19:11
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 17:01 |
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I'm the kind of chump who will definitely consider ponying up the cash for a game based on looks alone, and the pixel art in Potion Permit is gorgeous, but the reviews combined with that day 1 glut of DLC are really turning me off. I kinda enjoyed the demo despite the grindiness, and I don't mind devs making some extra income by releasing some cute cosmetics on the side, but there seems to be a general consensus that the gameplay turned out pretty shallow, and I think I can make a guess at where the effort was put instead.
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Sep 28, 2022 04:33
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Varsity posted:I wouldn't recommend Potion Permit, and this is coming from a guy who has been playing Farm and Life Simulators since Harvest Moon on the Gameboy. Sadly this all feels true for me. In theory it really felt like it should hit, but it really did not. Just feels super constrained and artificial to me.
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Sep 28, 2022 05:57
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tildes posted:Sadly this all feels true for me. In theory it really felt like it should hit, but it really did not. Just feels super constrained and artificial to me. I just wish there was some kind of attempt at depth. The tetrimino puzzle game is fun for a few times, but then you have to make some popping potion and you just sigh and start the tedious process of fitting in the pieces. Something like this would have at least made the potion part of the game interesting: This patient has a burn level of 6 and 3 scratches. Let me throw in 3 red flowers that treat +2 burn a piece, and the blue flower that treats +4 scratch. But oh hey, this new plant I unlocked has +5 burn and +3 scratch, saving me materials, sweet! Now I have room to add in the yellow +3 sweet flower that adds satisfaction. Just... anything to make the process worth doing. Shrug.
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Sep 28, 2022 14:56
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Varsity posted:I just wish there was some kind of attempt at depth. The tetrimino puzzle game is fun for a few times, but then you have to make some popping potion and you just sigh and start the tedious process of fitting in the pieces. That would have been cool.
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Sep 28, 2022 20:50
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i guess my only counterpoint is that i like it specifically because it's not deep. sometimes i just want to press button and heal people and chop tree, and get drip-fed a cute story. and potion permit does an excellent job of being that and nothing more.
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Sep 28, 2022 22:28
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give me the mysterious style of puzzle alchemy in the atelier games in a life sim instead of whatever potion permit is doing
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Sep 28, 2022 22:36
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someone awful. posted:i guess my only counterpoint is that i like it specifically because it's not deep. sometimes i just want to press button and heal people and chop tree, and get drip-fed a cute story. and potion permit does an excellent job of being that and nothing more. I've been playing for an hour or so between other, bigger games and I agree. It's what I expected for $20 and I really do find it charming and relaxing. I do wish it were more challenging but ah well.
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Sep 28, 2022 22:47
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Like many things, I suspect Potion Permit may have annoyed us because it’s so CLOSE to being good.
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Sep 29, 2022 01:02
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Anyone who likes the idea of Potion Permit and also is enough of a nerd to like solo tabletop RPG experiences should check out Apothecaria by Anna Blackwell. A game where you slowly improve your apothecary's workshop while gathering mysterious ingredients and treating various ailments. There's also a very cute 'travelling animal merchant' game called Apawthecaria.
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Sep 29, 2022 02:01
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HopperUK posted:Anyone who likes the idea of Potion Permit and also is enough of a nerd to like solo tabletop RPG experiences should check out Apothecaria by Anna Blackwell. A game where you slowly improve your apothecary's workshop while gathering mysterious ingredients and treating various ailments. There's also a very cute 'travelling animal merchant' game called Apawthecaria. Was just about to post about this very thing. Rules-light and flexible around how much creative energy and time you want to spend on it. I liked it so much that I went as far as to buy all the expansions as pdfs (since they don't all exist in print form) and have been printing them at home and hand-binding them with thread and needle. It's been a really soothing little project. I also really enjoy her solo mapping games, DELVE (dwarf-fortress-alike and the original instance of this rules engine), RISE (more of a dungeon-keeper idea) and UMBRA (in the vein of Alien and similar). All her stuff is very indie and could benefit from an editor, but the value for the price is great IMO. I was just looking around the other day to see if TG had a solo/journaling RPG thread, but I didn't spot one. It should exist but I'm not the guy to do it.
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Sep 29, 2022 03:17
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if you like identifying mysterious things and also solving weird problems, try Strange Horticulture
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Sep 29, 2022 03:23
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CK07 posted:Was just about to post about this very thing. Rules-light and flexible around how much creative energy and time you want to spend on it. I liked it so much that I went as far as to buy all the expansions as pdfs (since they don't all exist in print form) and have been printing them at home and hand-binding them with thread and needle. It's been a really soothing little project. There is one! Phone posting, cannot get link, but I promise it's there 
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Sep 29, 2022 03:42
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Here it is!
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Sep 29, 2022 03:45
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HopperUK posted:Anyone who likes the idea of Potion Permit and also is enough of a nerd to like solo tabletop RPG experiences should check out Apothecaria by Anna Blackwell. A game where you slowly improve your apothecary's workshop while gathering mysterious ingredients and treating various ailments. There's also a very cute 'travelling animal merchant' game called Apawthecaria. Do you mean an actual physical game?
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Sep 29, 2022 04:01
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HopperUK posted:There is one! Phone posting, cannot get link, but I promise it's there Thank you both!! What wonderful news :3
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Sep 29, 2022 04:34
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A Nth cottagecore witch simulator has hit the building Still waiting for reviews, but the visuals look pretty cute. More of a visual novel than a simulator, though.
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Sep 30, 2022 16:09
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mikemil828 posted:After playing the game I am not sure how Dreamlight Valley has anything to do with copyright law or how it even matters (even when Steamboat Willie enters the public domain, folks who would want to use the mouse are going to have a hell of a time not running afoul of trademark law) This is correct. And not only that, but the characters themselves have forgotten the adventures they had in said childhood dreams. They gradually remember more and more as you complete their individual friendship quest chains. I've now maxed friendship with 5 out of the 17 starting characters, and completing the last quest for each one gives you a special item and a new backstory reveal. I don't remember every one, but Elsa's (the one I just finished) is that she created the "winter" biome, back in the good old days, by bringing ice and snow to what had previously just been rocky cliffs. I'm still having fun and am excited about finishing the other questlines. I'm also really looking forward to the addition of more Realms beyond the initial four (Frozen, Moana, Ratatouille, and WALL-E). The game doesn't stop awarding Dreamlight for gameplay actions, even when you don't have any unlocks left to spend it on. PurpleButterfly fucked around with this message at 13:17 on Oct 3, 2022 |
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Oct 2, 2022 13:59
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https://twitter.com/_wholesomegames/status/1576984475262939137
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Oct 3, 2022 18:41
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Tried the Potionomics demo in the current Steam Next Fest. It's incredibly cute and it looks like the gameplay will be... perfectly fine. I hope they improve the load screen situation, though, I can see that being an issue. https://twitter.com/potionomics/status/1527332366271668256 https://twitter.com/potionomics/status/1568272410171801601
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Oct 7, 2022 12:22
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its a game i had my eye on and i wasn't disappointed in the demo, yay... the haggling stuff isn't anything to write home (just a simple card battler) but it does look like it won't over stay its welcome or anything and has an emphasis on it being quick which is nice. just gives me a bit of a style savvy vibe getting to do something to sell a product, so im for it i think. i am more interested in what the actual potion making stuff ends up like because it does seem like there are atelier style traits/tags and what not. speaking of atelier the walrus is 100% their Hagel... even the theme music is sorta similar vibe also mint is cute Snooze Cruise fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Oct 8, 2022 |
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Oct 8, 2022 02:51
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Snooze Cruise posted:also mint is cute  the character animation is so good
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Oct 8, 2022 03:09
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yeah for sure. there were some designs i wasn't sold on compared to others, but the animations add a lot
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Oct 8, 2022 03:11
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LLSix posted:Do you mean an actual physical game? Yep! All her stuff is on itch.io as pdfs.
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Oct 8, 2022 11:09
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i am playing touhou mystia's izakaya days you walk around an overworld map, do some sidequests and gather ingredients, nights you play a diner dash game. sometimes rare customers in who are actually characters and unlike the generics they don't tell you what dish they want from your menu but you have to figure out what traits they like in their food and drink and serve it to them. make rare customers happy and they start giving you sidequests that lead to new recipes and helpers. seems it has a surprisingly amount of content. im still in the early game but eventually you can get like 3 workers to do everything for you in the kitchen and you just focus on the rare customers.
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Oct 8, 2022 20:35
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The 7th Guest posted:
Yeah I really noticed that, very impressive animation work. There are some transitions still missing, but I'm surprised there are animations at all tbh. The writing is great, too - I'm already intrigued by several of the characters who only had a few lines.
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Oct 8, 2022 21:07
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Are there any good bunker simulators put there? I bounced hard off Mr Prepper (more dystopia than aopcalypse, didn't enjoy that mail system) and Sheltered (horrible inventory and crafting system)
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Oct 9, 2022 10:53
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Varsity posted:I just wish there was some kind of attempt at depth. The tetrimino puzzle game is fun for a few times, but then you have to make some popping potion and you just sigh and start the tedious process of fitting in the pieces.
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Oct 9, 2022 10:57
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Splicer posted:Are there any good bunker simulators put there? I bounced hard off Mr Prepper (more dystopia than aopcalypse, didn't enjoy that mail system) and Sheltered (horrible inventory and crafting system)
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Oct 9, 2022 12:24
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Nyaa posted:After the Collapse is pretty good. It's rimworld style interface, but there's bunker scenario, RNG world map for looting and underground layers. e: lol my doctor's a cannibal A++ Splicer fucked around with this message at 13:32 on Oct 9, 2022 |
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Oct 9, 2022 13:28
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Snooze Cruise posted:i am playing touhou mystia's izakaya One of the first screenshots I saw on that steam page was Chen being a little poo poo and threatening Kyouko with a nailbat, so I'm sold. Real cheap too.
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Oct 9, 2022 14:03
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Snooze Cruise posted:i am playing touhou mystia's izakaya I bought this ages ago because it was dirt cheap and have yet to play it so thanks for this! I'm going to give it a shot soon.
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Oct 9, 2022 14:19
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Snooze Cruise posted:i am playing touhou mystia's izakaya This game is really cute! I guess that's no surprise, it's Touhou
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Oct 9, 2022 14:48
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I've mentioned it a time or two here but just in case - folk who like these games might be interested in a current bundle of tabletop, PDF games that includes Apothecaria. https://bundleofholding.com/presents/NovelTools Eight bucks for the lower level containing several very good games. Just a headsup!
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Oct 9, 2022 20:28
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Summer In Mara is currently in the Fanatical Platinum Bundle. Anyone have any experience with it?
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Oct 10, 2022 07:21
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Kuule hain nussivan posted:Summer In Mara is currently in the Fanatical Platinum Bundle. Anyone have any experience with it? I tried the demo a while back, and it was a very boring, soulless experience. Felt pretty on rails, long tutorial section, and with so many other better options, I'd avoid.
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Oct 10, 2022 08:11
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I am glad this thread exists, I play a lot of this kind of game so it's good to see some recommendations here! First I'll suggest a game that I didn't see here yet, it's about child-raising but it's actually pretty rough thematically: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1114070/?snr=1_5_9__205 "My Child Lebensborn" The story is that you're raising an adopted German child shortly after WW2, in a foreign country. I didn't play it but bought it for my wife and she struggled a fair bit with it due to the topics and some tough choices, but as she played quite a few hours of it I think it's worth getting if you are into that style of game. The gameplay is generally an event-driven thing where you've got some choices to prepare for the kid for the next day at school, or to react to things that happened during the day, with some light resource and time management as the adult, like deciding if you spend your time mending their clothes or doing something else some evening. I recently bought Dinkum also but haven't had a chance to play it with my wife. So far I played it a bit single-player and it's fun enough, fishing's interesting (actually have to see a fish in the water to catch anything and it's not trivial), and I like that the island has wildlife that actually interacts with other things there. I was chased by some kind of monster (maybe a tasmanian devil or something) and lured it into a crocodile and they fought it out, I make sure to run by the croc-area regularly to grab any leftover meat dropped from what I assume were dingos. So far it doesn't seem to be too grindy and I think the village-building aspect will be fun, hopefully this will be a good game to play for an hour at a time just chilling out and planning our farm and stuff. It also seems to have some diverse activities to engage in which I appreciate since sometimes you just want to spend a while doing something else. We also played a lot of Wobbly Life which is really great, I recommend it as a multiplayer mess-around game, like GTA for kids or something but still fun for adults. It's got a few "jobs" that you do in the game, like chopping wood or farming or delivering pizza, and you get paid for your work and can then buy some property or cars or whatever. It's fun to just play and do a job together, explore the island to find treasures or other hidden things (to complete a museum), and generally just chilling out. We've put it aside for now pending some more updates but it's pretty good. I will give a "not recommended" to the game "Farm Together". The name basically says it all, it's multiplayer but the content of the game is entirely farming and driven by quests ("Grow 30 Asparagus!") and timers. Everything is timers and the world continues even when you're not playing. Your farm is initially one rectangular area, I think the map is the same every time, and you expand by buying large area/tiles neighbouring the ones you already own. We managed to get ~8 hours out of it but at the end it was just tedious - log in, run around to harvest everything and sell your stuff (and selling stuff is also on timers attached to your vegetable stand/fruit stand etc), plant more stuff, log out. It's cute but all of the gameplay boils down to "do thing, wait for timer, do next thing, wait for timer".
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Oct 10, 2022 09:15
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Radiation Cow posted:I tried the demo a while back, and it was a very boring, soulless experience. Felt pretty on rails, long tutorial section, and with so many other better options, I'd avoid. Good to know, thanks for the heads up!
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Oct 10, 2022 13:42
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potionomics is out, if anyone grabs it please share thoughts here... i wanna know how the actual potion making stuff feels a bit deeper past the demo
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Oct 17, 2022 21:15
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 17:01 |
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https://www.pcgamer.com/potionomics-review 87
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Oct 17, 2022 21:33
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