Thanks to the immensepopularity of Stardew Valley, the Play Store is filled with cute pixel-art farming sims where you’ll grow crops, buy furniture, and romance NPCs. Potion Permit is a fresh indie port on Android that doesn’t stray far enough from this formula to avoid feeling derivative at times, but it adds enough unique elements that make it a joy to play from start to finish, which is why it shouldn’t be missed.
If you’re looking for a new, high-quality indie game, Potion Permit is just about perfect, especially now that it’s on mobile. There’s no question the game has a lot going for it, which we delve into with our hands-on impression of this life simulator where you’ll play the part of a new chemist in a town filled with NPCs afflicted by more ailments than you can shake a cauldron at.
I recorded over twenty minutes of gameplay on my Redmagic 8 Pro (video above) to showcase exactly how the game plays on Android, and as expected from a gaming phone of this caliber, I didn’t encounter any performance issues. I also gave Potion Permit a whirl on my Pixel 7 Pro, where performance was equally as good. It’s not a particularly demanding game since it is pixel-based, so it’s likely evenbudget Android phoneswill run it with ease.
When it comes to interactivity, Potion Permit’s touch controls are responsive and more than exact enough to enjoy the game. However, if you’d prefer a more tactile experience, Potion Permit’s mobile port comes complete with full controller support so that you may enjoy the game with any ofour favorite Android controllers.
Potion Permit starts off slow, but that’s okay
As you enter a new town without friends or family, a representative of the local authority welcomes you to your new home. As they introduce you to various residents, you notice something is amiss. But there’s no time for worrying, as you’re immediately sent to your house, where you’re tasked with basic quests. You’ll explore the town, meet new people, and learn game mechanics in the first few in-game days.
While that’s a pretty good explanation of the introduction to Potion Permits, it’s also an explanation of Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, or most other life sims. But while this trope may be growing old in 2024, we don’t mind as long as the game offers compelling gameplay. Fortunately, Potion Permit delivers this in spades.
While the broad strokes of Potion Permit are derivative of earlier life sims, delve in, and you’ll find a wealth of engaging minigames, stunning visuals, a great variety of gameplay mechanics, and enough content to satisfy you for weeks.
Potion Permit keeps its gameplay interesting with minigames and puzzles
Like most life sims, Potion Permit offers numerous activities to perform around the town, but the core mechanic is an engaging rotation of minigames that never feels repetitive or boring.
Daily, various townsfolk will deposit themselves in your clinic suffering from an as-yet-unknown ailment. You’ll diagnose the patient, gather ingredients, and mix up a remedy. Potion Permit’s strength is that each step in this process comprises a unique minigame that keeps things interesting no matter how many times you repeat these steps (and you’ll repeat them a lot).
Each diagnosis comprises a series of minigames. While not challenging, they keep things engaging. It’s easy to see how this interaction could have been simplified into basic dialogue, but I’m glad it isn’t. You’ll diagnose many patients over your career as a chemist, and the minigames are always good fun to play.
Collecting ingredients is similarly well-designed. You’ll gather resources from a wild area outside of town, dodging and fighting monsters as you select the right tool for the job. It’s wise to collect various resources to ensure you have everything you need when a townsperson falls ill, so each journey is a unique adventure of gathering plants while dealing with the monsters that fill the wild.
Once you have everything you need, you’ll make your remedy. Here, you’ll assemble your potion by arranging colored tiles representing ingredients into an irregular space. Again, it’s not particularly challenging, but it requires enough thought to keep you engaged.
Surrounding this core gameplay loop are the minigames, quests, and NPCs that make the world of Potion Permit come alive. There are too many to delve into here, but I was surprised at the sheer number of minigames packed into every corner of the map.
Potion Permit is fun but can feel unpolished at times
While the aforementioned minigames and a world filled with character and detail keep you interested, it won’t take long before you run into a few rough edges.
For example, the monsters you’ll encounter while gathering resources are not challenging to avoid. Their attacks are easy to dodge, and their damage isn’t high enough to be worrisome regardless. This relegates them to the status of “frustrating annoyance,” not " challenging threat." Another less thought-out element is the romance. With a cast of thirty characters, only eight of them can be romanced. While careful thought has been lavished on some (the ex-pirate Leano and witch doctor Matheo stood out for me), others feel two-dimensional. Another frustrating element is the fishing, which is calibrated to a weirdly high difficulty.
These issues give the game an unfinished air. It’s not so problematic that we wouldn’t recommend the game, but these rough edges stop what is undoubtedly a great game from becoming one of the very best.
What somewhat balances these problems out is a swathe of quality-of-life features that other life sims should note. The most notable of these is that your (mandatory) dog companion can be sent to find NPCs, saving you the frustrating routine of checking their location on a wiki.
Potion Permit easily stands on its own as an enthralling life sim
Potion Permit is an excellent addition to the raft of Animal Crossing-likelife simulation games on Android. While a few issues hold it back from true greatness, this is a must-play for any fans of the genre, especially if you’ve already seen everything Stardew Valley has to offer. Few games get as close to Stardew’s perfection, but Potion Permit is one of them. You can grab the game on sale right now for $4.70, which is a couple of bucks off the retail price in celebration of the game’s mobile release.
