We all have that one game, not necessarily a “guilty pleasure”, but a game we can play for hours and hours on end, year in and year out, without getting sick of it. For me, that game is Stardew Valley. The hours I’ve spent in the game can only be rivalled by the hours I’ve spent in League of Legends, with the core difference being I’ve enjoyed my time in Stardew. But, I will admit, lately, I’ve found my eyes wandering, and I’ve been looking for a potential “replacement” for my Stardew time – enter Potion Permit.
Now make no mistake, Potion Permit is no Stardew Valley – and it doesn’t try to be. Instead, it’s a game that can stand all on its own while still keeping that feeling of familiarity. The first and most significant way Potion Permit sets itself apart is in the game’s setup. Stardew Valley saw players inheriting a farm and working with the (mostly) welcoming villagers to help restore the farm and the town to its former glory; in Potion Permit, your presence is less… welcomed…
Instead of inheriting a community, in Potion Permit, you inherit a legacy, and it’s not exactly good. You play as a state-certified chemist who has been sent to a town burnt by chemists before. Thanks to previous experiences, they don’t particularly want you there. You start playing the game and soon realise you’re standing against years of build-up distrust and resentment. The concept of not only being the “new guy” but being someone the town already doesn’t like is a uniquely fresh take on an all too familiar story.
While other games will see you want to become the best at something, in Potion Permit, you want to make amends and, by doing so, slowly start to build up trust. The gameplay works in a kind of “loop”. At the start of each day, the game will notify you of new patients that have wandered into your clinic. Once you have patients, you first need to diagnose their illness (with a minigame) and then treat them (with another minigame). Each of these games are straightforward and simple, but they do their best to keep the game from ever feeling too “samie” and monotonous.
One of the game’s most exciting aspects is how potions are created. To make the potions used to treat patients, you will need to head into the woods to forage, mine and slay fantastical beasts to gather what is required. As you play the game and your reputation in town rises, you will unlock other areas to explore. Each resource gathered is represented in your inventory as a differently shaped Tetris-like piece. And to craft, you need to fill in a predecided shape with these pieces. It’s never brain-breakingly challenging or overly complex, but it is always interesting.
As with other titles in this genre, when players aren’t running around searching for ingredients or delivering miracle cures – they can spend time interacting with the town folk, and this is, surprisingly, it’s quite pleasant. Now I’m no stranger to interacting with folk in games like these; in fact, I don’t think there is a character in Stardew Valley I haven’t ended up married to, and while I wouldn’t put the social interaction in Potion Permit far above Stardew Valley, it is a very close second,
The game is filled with NPCs, each with their own prominent personalities and struggles (which you will help them navigate through the course of the game). There are six characters for you to form romantic relationships with, and the entire experience is sweet and cute – everything you’d want from a game like this.
