If I had to choose one emotion that I most commonly experience when playing video games, it would be frustration without a second thought. I spend a LOT of time playing games like League of Legends and Elder Scrolls Online. You can only handle your healer dying out of spite so many times before you start contemplating murder and before your blood pressure starts to become a genuine issue.
Because of this, I like to break up the frustration every now and then by losing a few days of my life playing a single-player game that does nothing other than capture my attention and relax me, which is also why I own Stardew Valley on every platform it’s available. Over the last while, I’ve sunk many an hour into games like Moonlighter and even Don’t Starve. Still, neither of those fulfilled the one thing I was desperately in the mood for, crafting. Enter into the scene, Wytchwood.
Wytchwood is a charming and addictive game all about crafting. You play as the old witch of the woods. It’s up to you to explore and collect magical ingredients so that you can brew various potions and enhancements to help and hinder the characters and creatures who live in your woods. When a billy goat ends up breaking into your hut and calls upon you to honour a long-forgotten contract, your tale starts.
The game starts, and all you have on you is your Grimoire, a book that contains a list of all of your very special witches recipes and keeps track of all the ingredients needed to make said recipes. You will then spend the game exploring and collecting all the ingredients you need. On the quest for ingredients, you’ll find yourself making use of your “Witch Sense”, which will allow you to get a full breakdown of any items properties or purpose. This comes in especially handy while solving puzzles and recovering some of your lost memories along the way.
Wytchwood does a great job of never making you feel overwhelmed at any point, and the soothing soundtrack helps add to the general peacefulness the game exudes.
