From the moment the game opens, it's clear that Potionomics is full of character. From its witty dialogue to exaggerated character animations, Potionomics is a new indie game with a colorful cast and an equally vibrant world to match. Its unique design helps the game feel funny and magical, while also remaining grounded in its expression.
In Potionomics, players take the role of Syliva and embark on a journey as an up-and-coming potions witch with a massive debt looming over her. Game ZXC talks with Voracious Games co-founder Aryo Jati Darmawn and write/narrative designer Nick Eliopulos about how the team developed unique characters and a fantastical world, all while keeping it grounded.
The Colorful Characters of Potionomics Help Maintain an Air of Levity
Trying to enjoy life with a large debt hanging over one's head is a feeling far too many may be familiar with; it's certainly something the protagonist of Potionomics knows quite well. As a young potions witch, Sylvia takes on her deceased uncle's shop along with his massive debt. Despite this seemingly daunting reality, Darmawan expresses that the witty conversation and exaggerated characters of Potionomics help assuage that overwhelming feeling of doom:
"With the crushing debt looming over you in the narrative, we figured it would be best to try to inject as much levity as we can into the game."
Throughout the game, players have the opportunity to meet a variety of characters. Each one has their own unique design, personality, and set of mannerisms that make them stand out from the rest. Before any dialogue was written, however, the team got together and focused on visuals first. According to Eliopulos, it was important that the other features of character design were fleshed out before writing began. Voracious worked hard to craft each character's look and occupation, and as those aspects came together, their personalities and backstories naturally fell into place.
Once their visuals were complete, the team began writing dialogue and narrative for each character. It was important that they were not just eye candy; they had to be fun to interact with, and the text had to be engaging yet concise so as not to lose the attention of the player. By making the characters witty and the dialogue intentional, the team was able to "pack a lot of characterization into a small space" while adding a touch of humor and depth to its many characters.
The World Crafted by Voracious Games Feels Fantastical Yet Grounded
Beyond the characters of the game, one of the most engaging aspects of Potionomics is its world. Through various art styles, NPCs, buildings, and environments, the game maintains a magical feeling, but something about its design also makes the player feel that it could almost be real. Darmawan notes that the grounding aspect of the game was achieved by taking those fantastical things and rendering them mundane.
"We basically looked at things that exist in a lot of fantasy media but made it more grounded. You can really see this with the existence of tame mimic pets everywhere in the game. Not only did we think it was fun on an aesthetic level, but we thought it would be awesome to take such a ferocious creature and give them a mundane, everyday job."
One such example of a tame mimic pet is Sylvia's vending machine mimic. With a touch of imagination, a typically innocuous, mundane machine becomes fantastical while still maintaining that feeling of being ordinary. With examples like this sprinkled throughout the world, Voracious Games created an environment where even the most commonplace things can feel a little bit magical.
Of course, there are other parts of the game that are more outright inspired by other works of fantasy and other games as well. Darmawan notes much of the inspiration behind Potionomics was derived from the cute aesthetic and capitalist gameplay of Recettear. The game's original haggling system closely mimicked that of Recettear's until it was ultimately tweaked and changed during development. Darmawn mentions that many characters were also inspired by the team's favorite anime and JRPG characters such as Muktuk's bravado being inspired by that of Fullmetal Alchemist's Armstrong.
With a team of only 8 devs at the height of its development, Potionomics is an impressive feat for Voracious Games where its mechanics come together to deliver plenty of good laughs and good potions to players everywhere.
Potionomics is available to play now on PC.