One of the most engaging shop running games I've played, but also marred by an economy imbalance in the mid-late game. Still absolutely worth it if the concept seems compelling.


The story and characters were charming and ticked all the boxes to get me invested. Combining a visual novel with deckbuilding by tying it to card unlocks is clever, but at the same time I was far more interested in seeing each character develop than the extrinsic rewards I got from it.


The shop running aspect was unexpectedly tense right off the bat. Funds are low while you are still learning the mechanics, resulting in the game being uncomfortably tight but also incredibly engaging. Having to finish certain potions for a contest and fulfilling orders added extra constraints that kept me planning ahead.

However, around week 2, with more money coming in and a better grasp of the mechanics, I was able to make potions vastly superior to the contest requirements. During week 3 I started blowing past the economy curve and by week 4 I was swimming in ingredients, with upgraded cauldrons that let me brew even more overpriced potions. Fulfilling orders was no longer needed, careful brewing was no longer needed, haggling was no longer needed.

By starting out tight and then giving the player too much too soon, the game instilled a sense of efficiency that backfired. It became too easy in a way that removed the need to engage with most of the mechanics that made it initially engaging.


This was the most engaging aspect of the gameplay for me. Aspects of the brewing system are introduced gradually through the early game and it pushes the player to brew under certain restrictions, largely to fulfill orders, which results in a math-tastic experimentation playground where the player is essentially creating puzzles to solve.

This aspect does weaken in the mid to late game, where you simply get ingredients that have the same ratios and attributes but with higher multipliers, resulting in recipes being quite samey; as well as the economy imbalance reducing the need to brew well.

I don't have much to comment on the deckbuilding itself since I don't know much about this gameplay genre. It's a rather simple card game with a unique theme.

I will say the contest battles are a fun spectacle that sadly suffer from being completely skippable if you brew good enough potions beforehand. I can't help but wish the game had some sort of adaptive difficulty option to ensure I always had to haggle during contests.

Buying from the shop gets pretty tedious without the option to automatically restock items to a certain amount. A common glitch causes buttons to become unclickable and necessitates extra fiddling. Xid keeps magically dropping and picking up her guitar instead of playing the animation once and entering a different loop.


All aspects of the game worked in harmony for the first twenty or so hours. Learning all the mechanics was a lot of fun, however after I did, the economy balance made it so I no longer had to use them.

So long as there isn't some sort of rebalance patch, I would recommend maybe limiting yourself to 2 or 3 cauldrons (which also keeps days shorter) and paying more visits to characters starting in week 2 instead of brewing several batches per day.

One of the most engaging shop running games I've played, but also marred by an economy imbalance in the mid-late game. Still absolutely worth it if the concept seems compelling. [h2]Writing[/h2] The story and characters were charming and ticked all the boxes to get me invested. Combining a visual novel with deckbuilding by tying it to card unlocks is clever, but at the same time I was far more interested in seeing each character develop than the extrinsic rewards I got from it. [h2]Management[/h2] The shop running aspect was unexpectedly tense right off the bat. Funds are low while you are still learning the mechanics, resulting in the game being uncomfortably tight but also incredibly engaging. Having to finish certain potions for a contest and fulfilling orders added extra constraints that kept me planning ahead. However, around week 2, with more money coming in and a better grasp of the mechanics, I was able to make potions vastly superior to the contest requirements. During week 3 I started blowing past the economy curve and by week 4 I was swimming in ingredients, with upgraded cauldrons that let me brew even more overpriced potions. Fulfilling orders was no longer needed, careful brewing was no longer needed, haggling was no longer needed. By starting out tight and then giving the player too much too soon, the game instilled a sense of efficiency that backfired. It became too easy in a way that removed the need to engage with most of the mechanics that made it initially engaging. [h2]Brewing[/h2] This was the most engaging aspect of the gameplay for me. Aspects of the brewing system are introduced gradually through the early game and it pushes the player to brew under certain restrictions, largely to fulfill orders, which results in a math-tastic experimentation playground where the player is essentially creating puzzles to solve. This aspect does weaken in the mid to late game, where you simply get ingredients that have the same ratios and attributes but with higher multipliers, resulting in recipes being quite samey; as well as the economy imbalance reducing the need to brew well. [h2]Deckbuilding[/h2] I don't have much to comment on the deckbuilding itself since I don't know much about this gameplay genre. It's a rather simple card game with a unique theme. I will say the contest battles are a fun spectacle that sadly suffer from being completely skippable if you brew good enough potions beforehand. I can't help but wish the game had some sort of [b]adaptive difficulty option[/b] to ensure I always had to haggle during contests. [h3]The things that nag me after playing for dozens of hours[/h3] Buying from the shop gets pretty tedious without the option to automatically restock items to a certain amount. A common glitch causes buttons to become unclickable and necessitates extra fiddling. Xid keeps magically dropping and picking up her guitar instead of playing the animation once and entering a different loop. [h2]Conclusion[/h2] All aspects of the game worked in harmony for the first twenty or so hours. Learning all the mechanics was a lot of fun, however after I did, the economy balance made it so I no longer had to use them. So long as there isn't some sort of rebalance patch, I would recommend maybe limiting yourself to 2 or 3 cauldrons (which also keeps days shorter) and paying more visits to characters starting in week 2 instead of brewing several batches per day.