Having played loads of titles on the Switch that are either more casual or family-friendly, I’ve come to appreciate the fact that sometimes there’s satisfaction to be found in simplicity. Repetition and routine can actually be enormously relaxing for some people, making the simulation genre particularly popular with that crowd when it comes to the right titles. That said, it’s still important to maintain some standard for the level of what’s delivered, and that’s where I see Alchemist: The Potion Monger struggling a bit.

Playing out as a very direct simulation, you’ll first be tasked with setting up your basic supplies in the small shop you’ve been provided with. Once you’re able to place your cauldron, table, and mortar, as well as name your dog, you’ll then try to get your small business off the ground. For the most part you’ll be given or will seek out quests which will require you to go out and collect new materials, periodically get new equipment to work with, and learn new recipes so you can keep strengthening your business offerings. Sometimes you’ll simply be able to find and pick up some plants, but you’ll also sometimes have to attack monsters to get what you need… and for me this was where the signs of the game’s issues began to arise.

In general, aside from having a very “1 or 2 generations ago” look, the game’s controls and interfaces can be tough to love, or even to enjoy. Moving between the analog stick, the buttons, and the D-Pad can be awkward, the on-screen instructions are often not helpful, and the means of performing certain common actions feels needlessly pained. I’d also point out that combat is clumsy at best, though thankfully at least you don’t often seem to be under serious threat. It just feels like an area that should have gotten quite a bit more attention, since if you’re going to include it you don’t want people to wince every time they need to tussle with even simple monsters.

Considering the game’s downsides, and what I’d consider to be pretty limited upsides, this feels like a pretty hard sell. There are honestly quite a variety of potion and shopkeeper games on the system, though many perhaps set up quite differently than this one, that simply do pretty well everything better. Whether being more varied, more polished, more engaging, or simply more consistent by comparison, this felt like a really tough play. Perhaps its simplicity and friendly nature will still manage to be a good fit for some folks, but I’d consider this to be an easy game to miss in favor of spending more time with something more compelling.