Playing Every Game in the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
PEGBRJE: ‘Potion Commotion: Heart Edition’ and ‘a milky way’
Grow plants, steal milk. There’s a joke here somewhere.
Potion Commotion: Heart Edition is a gardening simulator game created by JENNY_. The ‘Heart Edition’ is an important subtitle, as technically there are two Potion Commotions. They were made during the same game jam as a ‘collaboration’ effort between JENNY_ and Kyanite Heart. They were developed separately as a cute way of showcasing two games but the ‘same game’. You can check out the other version here.
Now where were we; oh yes, botany, right.
Players are the apprentice of a famous magical botanist Arden Silvera — at least, that is the goal. Upon arrival, Arden is nowhere to be found, and the garden is empty. Through journal entries, hard labour, and a bit of magic, hopefully wherever Arden went can be revealed. Until then, it is time to garden.
As one might expect, this is a game of waiting and brewing potions to say screw it to waiting. Players start with an infinite number of Hydrangea seeds, planting them and waiting for them to grow so that they can be harvested to do it all again. Once other seeds have been acquired, players can choose to either harvest a plant for its bulb/magical uses, or to harvest it for seeds so that more can be planted and the cycle can continue.
These plants can be mixed in a massive cauldron in a separate room, which make potions to assist in growing the garden and the plants. This is useful short term, but their secondary value lies in the ability to sell them for gems. Each potion has a market value, and this market allows for the purchasing of new seeds — it’s the only way for players to progress farther in the game as no plants will just sprout spontaneously.
It hits the sweet spot of being relaxing/hands-off enough that you won’t have to commit a lot of time, yet also time-sinking enough to get you to keep playing. You’ll try maximizing the space you have at all times, while also kicking back and watching them grow over the next few minutes.
The story helps to keep things interesting as well, since the more plants you grow and the more potions learned, the more journal entries the crows will drop off. If you like simulation games that go just a little farther and give a plot to boot, give this a try.
‘a milky way’ is a co-operative ‘survival’ game created by Fredrik Vestergaard, Raphael Anderegg, Milena Shields, Kathleen Bohren, Agata Tselesh, Manuel Wirth, and Hanh-Dung Nguyen. Together they created this game for Global Game Jam 2020. So what was made? Well, a game about beaver dads and way too much milk.
Once the team of beavers has been assembled, players will protect the ship that has stolen milk from the milky way in order to bring it back to their children. Moving is a bit challenging due to being in space, as players will press the A button to jet forward a bit while the direction depends on the location facing.
Meteors are the obstructing factor, implied to be brought upon the ship by the angry cows that power the Milky Way, and they cause leaks in the ship’s tank. The only way to fix this is through wooden planks that are floating by from an unknown source; grabbing them will allow the beaver to then take it to the leak and plug it. This continues until the beavers arrive at their home, and the amount of milk that is remaining is tallied up to give a score.
I’d have more to say, but ‘a milky way’ doesn’t need much else to say; it’s a game about repairing a ship and co-operating/fighting with your fellow beaver dads on the best way to get it done. No fighting with the meteors, although you can try blocking them to hear some adorable noises from the beavers.
Nevertheless, if you need a fun game to play with friends, this is it.
