So Many Artifacts, So Little Time

I recently finished the follow-up to the fantastic plant-based mystery game Strange Horticulture.  Rather than boggling out the identities of various plants, this time around you're dealing with a collection of strange magical artifacts while you man the front desk of Strange Antiquities.  Of course there's also a mystery afoot in the ominous village of Undermere that requires you to utilize your knowledge of these random objects.

What is it?

A casual puzzle game that requires you to use your skills of deduction to identify a growing collection of bizarre items, to satisfy the requests of various patrons who are in need of items for specific purposes, and to solve a number of mysterious clues to ultimately stop a magical catastrophe in the town of Undermere.

How much playtime can you expect?

I finished a full playthrough (that included some pause time and I played through the epilogue to identify a few unidentified items) in 12.5 hours.  It's perfect for short or long sessions as you can save and quit at any point.  There's much replayability though (which I will explain).

Pros:

+ If you've played Strange Horticulture the gameplay hasn't changed much and is easy to pick up.  Each day you can click on the bell to meet with a new customer.  That customer will request that you find a specific item for their needs--sometimes they will describe a need and you'll have to consult your handy guide to magical items to figure out which item will best solve their problem or they will simply request a specific item.  Once you've picked the item that you think fits, you present it to the customer.  If you've correctly identified it a window will pop up to confirm that you've puzzled out the correct clues--this time around they've also included a handy setting (that you must enable in the settings menu) that will auto-label any items you've correctly identified.

Certain characters that are part of the main story will visit the store and present you with the option to pick between specific items.  Usually one item is a bit on the darker side and the other seems more innocent.  These choices play out in the story and at the end of the game you find out the effects of your choices.

+ Multiple endings!  I don't know exactly how many endings there are, but if it's anything like Strange Horticulture there are many.  There's a great amount of replayability built in to facilitate multiple playthroughs.

+ A vast number of options for labelling objects--you can change the shape and color of labels to better help organize them.  I didn't have much of a plan for this, but you could definitely group objects according to their traits.

There are three different books to consult for clues.

+ More layers to puzzling out item identities.  Often you'll need to consult multiple books (you get three guides in addition to the basic guide) to gather together the information that you need.  There's a book on gemstones and another one on symbols.  Plus, there's another item that I don't want to spoil.

+ Little mysteries around the shop to solve.  I just started clicking on random stuff in the shop that looked like it might do something and discovered several hidden puzzles that could eventually be solved to unlock more items.  It's fun to find these hidden (and sort of not-so hidden because they are eventually revealed) puzzles.

+ A cute new shop cat named Jupiter!  You can pet Jupiter and listen to his/her cute purrs.

+ The option to play the epilogue which will allow you to identify any items that you might not have identified.

+ Daily puzzle cards to solve.  Each day a new mystery card will challenge you to explore one of three different locations to find additional objects.  Most of the puzzles are easily solvable, but a few are a bit of a headscratcher (I'll admit here that I did look a few things up).

+ Music is calm and soothing--perfect for relaxation while puzzling.

+ If you incorrectly identify items you will eventually have to play a little game to restore your sanity.  This time around it's a dice game that requires you to match certain combinations of symbols.  It's fun to play and mostly easy to reset to the beginning of the day.

Cons:

- I didn't think the world and groups seemed quite as ominous as in Strange Horticulture.  There's still some inherent creepiness, but a slightly less strange and intriguing group of characters.

- Rather than one large map for exploration there are three smaller scale maps.  In some ways this was nice (figuring out which map to use is easy) but in others it made exploration a bit easier.  Some people might find this disappointing.

- Hints can be fairly unhelpful.  Usually you will have figured out the basic information but need a little bit more--the hints definitely do nor provide much extra help.  I wish they would give a bit more of a nudge if you need more than one.  I tried very hard not to look anything up but did eventually get stuck and resorted to Googling.

Recommendation:

If you enjoyed Strange Horticulture you'll find that Strange Antiquities is very much the same kind of adventure.  I had fun figuring things out and enjoyed the rewarding feeling of identifying items.  If you like puzzle games and using your noggin to solve problems from a vague set of clues, it's perfect for you.  If you're someone who gets easily frustrated and gives up, it might be best to avoid.  The replayability factor also makes it an attractive choice--you can go back and make different decisions to see how the story plays out.

I Missed One...

In all the excitement about September new releases I forgot one!  The follow-up to the plant-filled mystery game Strange Horticulture arrived on September 17th.  This time around you're dealing with a vast array of magical objects in Strange Antiquities.  Strange Horticulture was recently featured as a freebie on Epic, so hopefully more people learned about and got to enjoy solving the mysteries of Undermere.  I've had a few hours to play around with Strange Antiquities and even though there aren't any plants, the gameplay remains very much in the same vein.

Jupiter and the storefront in Strange Antiquities.

Strange Antiquities starts off much the same way that Strange Horticulture did--a family member needs help tending the shop and you get to play that role.  The major difference this time around is that the items in question are an array of bizarre (and sometimes grotesque) magical items.  Luckily there's a handy tome filled with vague, semi-helpful descriptions to help you identify them.  There's also a fun, cute new shop cat named Jupiter to occasionally pet and make you feel better about the disgusting mummified hand that is sitting on a shelf.

The gameplay has been pretty similar to Strange Horticulture--townfolk visit the shop looking for a magical item to help them with their current issues and it's your job to correctly identify a totem, pendant...or other magical oddity to serve their needs.  On top of this there's also a mysterious illness impacting the villagers that seems to have some sort of dark and ominous source.  Every day a new mystery card appears and you can opt to try to puzzle out the clues to unlock even more items for the shop.  The shop itself also contains a number of different puzzles that hide new objects and information that can be used to help with the local mystery.

If you haven't checked out either Strange Horticulture or Strange Antiquities, I would recommend giving them a try.  There's some light-to-medium puzzle solving and a dark, mystery story to solve.  It's a great casual/mostly relaxing game with lots of replayability.

Upcoming Title Excitement!

As summer starts to transition to fall, there's plenty to look forward to--cooler temperatures, pumpkin spice (not for me, but I do enjoy apple cinnamon vibes), and even some upcoming games to play during those rainy, cool days.  A few titles don't have a release date yet, so maybe not the fall, but soon-ish.  I'll highlight a few titles/DLC's that I'm excited about.

1.) Two Point Museum

We've mastered our medical skills in Two Point Hospital and educated the clueless masses in Two Point Campus and now we get to build fantastic museums!  The Two Point games are a personal favorite of mine and are semi-serious management games.  This summer there were a series of in-game challenges that were clues that led to the eventual announcement of Two Point Museum.  Several short videos have rolled out that show various parts of the gameplay.  You get to run, design, and discover artifacts to display in your new museum.  There's also an aquarium section that you can fill with fish, turtles, and other fun aquatic species.  Personally, I'm very excited for this title and am looking forward to finding out more.  Thus far, no release date has been announced.  I'm hoping for a holiday release (because then I will be off work and have plenty of time to dedicate to my awesome museums).  Here's the announcement trailer:

2.) PowerWash Simulator: Shrek Special Pack

If you're feeling a desire to relax and clean a variety of virtual surfaces, PowerWash Simulator is rolling out the perfect DLC.  The best part--it's themed with one of the best movie franchises of the early 2000's!  (I stan Shrek & Shrek 2--they are amazing.  Fight me!)  That's right, we get to clean up Shrek's swamp and other Shrek-themed locations in the upcoming Shrek Special Pack.  Of all the DLC that has come out for PowerWash Simulator, this is the one that has made me the most excited.  (I just noticed the sword sprayer skin and the armor set!)  Apparently the pack will feature 5 maps that include signature locations from across the film franchise.  There's also no release date on this one, but I would anticipate it anywhere from a few weeks until maybe the holiday season. 

3.) Strange Antiquities

The makers of the plant-themed mystery game Strange Horticulture announced Strange Antiquities awhile back and I've been watching for any news.  The news has been sparse, but I very much enjoyed their quirky, clever first game, so I'm definitely looking forward to another strange group of events and people to analyze.  Oh, and also apparently antiquities--no plants this time.  The announcement trailer doesn't reveal much in terms of gameplay, but it looks like we'll be returning to Undermere AND that there's a cute new shop kitty (named Jupiter) to pet.  There's no release date on this one either and it's actually listed as "to be announced" rather than "coming soon," so I'm assuming that it might be a ways further off.

4.) Dragon Age: The Veilguard

I'm listing this as #4 because it is actually a ways down on my excitement list.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Inquisition but BioWare's recent struggles have put a damper on my...let's say expectations.  Since it's a triple-A title there have been numerous teasers, trailers, and gameplay previews released.  From what I've seen, it does look pretty cool.  Also, shockingly, the requirements on PC seem reasonable.  I would say that the fan reaction has been a bit mixed.  Like me, a lot of BioWare fans have a healthy dose of caution when it comes to their recent titles.  I've seen a lot of negative reaction to the fact that you can't control party members (I think you can still issue commands) and it sounds like combat is going to play like Mass Effect: Andromeda with players primarily focusing on controlling their character.  I'm definitely not pre-ordering (c'mon folks, just don't do it!) and will likely wait on this one.  There has been one VERY GOOD piece of news--if you buy it on Steam you will not need to go through the EA App.  Praise the baby cheeses because the stacking launcher problem is stupid and annoying (not to mention that the EA App is a bit notorious for problems).  I'm not gonna lie though--this most recent trailer is AWESOME!  It's got everything to make a Dragon Age fan feel pumped and a little extra--you've got fan favorite returning characters, dragons, a stunning variety of environments, and some pretty fantastic enemies (oh, and some light romancing).  Dragon Age: The Veilguard releases on October 31st--a Halloween treat (let's hope that BioWare pulls it off and we don't wind up feeling tricked instead).