Running an alchemy shop
Potion Party is a couch co-op game for one to four players where you run an alchemy shop together. You grow exotic fruits, synthesize them into potions, and sell them to earn gold. The gold goes back into the shop: upgrade tools, buy equipment, and decorate the place. There are more than 20 unlockable items, split between decorative pieces that give passive boosts and equipment that grants new abilities. You also unlock 11 characters, each with their own special abilities, and you can upgrade those abilities to push their bonuses further. The game runs on cute stylized pixel graphics, and everything is unlocked by playing — there are no microtransactions.
Playing with your group
You can play Story-Mode alone or with up to 4 players, earning gold to unlock new stages and gameplay modes. In Couch-Coop you work as a team to keep the shop running. The shop does not stay quiet, though: enemies and intruders lurk in the shadows and try to mess things up, so part of the job is defending against plotting creatures and thieving villains while keeping service going. Once you unlock Versus-Mode, the group splits into two teams and races to brew potions as fast as possible to crown the best alchemist. Endless-Mode is there when you want to test how long you can keep the store open. Remote Play Together is supported, so friends can join in remotely.
Before you start
The game covers roughly 5 to 10 hours of play with a wide selection of unlockable items and replayable solo and multiplayer modes. It is tagged as family friendly and casual, with resource management, time management, and crafting at the core of the loop. Expect a fast pace once customers, brewing, and intruders all demand attention at the same time. Versus-Mode and Endless-Mode unlock through play rather than being available from the start, so the early hours are spent on Story-Mode and building up the shop.