Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2024
Potion Tycoon
Developer Snowhound Games
Potion Tycoon is a management simulator with a witchy twist! Build and develop your very own magic shop. Manage resources, set up production lines, mix potions and sell them smartly to stay ahead of the competition. Welcome to the potion business! From the Steam store page
200 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Oct 4, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
66
Fresh
126 positive · 64 negative
95% range 59–73%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 126 | 64 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
10 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
527 of 732 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 200 · most liked firstConcise Game Reviews: "Potion Tycoon" (Scroll down for the longer version) Game Value: ✅ Highly recommended for fans of tycoon and management sims with a magical twist, offering a blend of alchemy, shopkeeping, and resource management. Game Tags: ✔Strategy ✔Simulation ✔Tycoon ✔Management ✔Resource Management ✔Crafting ✔Alchemy ✔Shop Management ✔2D ✔Hand-Drawn Art Genre Classification: A management simulation game where players run a potion shop, focusing on crafting, resource management,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Potion Tycoon, a potion store management game with potion crafting and market dynamics, released on Steam.
unlabelledView post →❌ Would not recommend to scratch that potion shop game itch ❌ Would not recommend to management and simulator game nut The simulation/management aspect of this game is very mediocre/lacking. The game tries to be a potion shop management and simulator game. However it pretends to do the latter and chose to embrace the potion shop game aspect, and IMO that is its downfall. It deprives you of the satisfaction you typically get from simulation/management game where you succeed creating a hell of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was a passable game for an early access title. Had some potential, needed work. Then, it didn't get developed much at all, and inexplicably left early access. At this point, it's a frustrating game suffering from poor developer vision and a lack of dedication.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Potion Tycoon, a potion store management game with potion crafting and market dynamics, released on Steam.
unlabelledView post →This one was a toughie because I really enjoy the concept and design beside a lot of the game's mechanics, but overall I have to agree with a lot of the reviews here noting that the difficulty curve is not very well implemented. I've played a lot of tycoon games in my time, so I caught onto what the game was trying to do fairly quick, but not at all because the game actually presents or lets the player know in any way that that's what's happening. Let me explain. Basically, this is a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So I went into this seeing all the reviews about how the tutorial was bad and there's too much info and basically just that it's too difficult. I was like "lol y'all just need to git gud, i love rimworld and oxygen not included and stuff, this can't be that bad if you've ever played a colony sim or management game. ALL their UIs and tutorials suck." It looks SO fun and I really wanted to love it. All the ideas are great. Nah. I was wrong. It's bad. The ideas are great and it ends there.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoy the game to an extent, but recently I played 2 games in which I got really far in, near ending, and got screwed over by a bugged out UI, then by a spawn. The spawn issues are the worst. In one of the latest patches the devs introduced monster spawns. Monsters & Skeletons will spawn inside your base, and scare workers and customers. You have 2 options to get rid of the spawns: 1.) Throw a rock, and 2.) Use a potion. The first option to throw a rock never happens, I have no clue…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Made a lot of money and decided to revamp the whole shop. Game kept crashing. There hasn't been an update since last year. That's one year of no updates and fixes..
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Potion Tycoon approaches the management genre with a charming fantasy premise: instead of running an ordinary factory or retail chain, you are building a commercial empire around magical potions. Developed by Snowhound Games and published by Daedalic Entertainment, the game combines business simulation, production planning, research, employee management, shop customization, and market strategy. Its colorful presentation makes the experience immediately approachable, but beneath that friendly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First the positive out of the way, this game runs well, has a pretty good art style, music and general presentation. It generally functions good and smoothly. But the gameplay... This is a game at odds with itself. It proposes automation in tiny maps, can queue up potions but not their base ingredients has a long series of goals to achieve a win with very limited and controled ways to play the game. So you have a hard time automating because you don't have the space or the money,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If its on sale? Yeah go ahead, buy it! Certainly a wait till sale type of game. Its quite buggy, be sure to remember to save your progress! Don't take on too many requests at a time that they go off screen and expect the odd worker to get stuck either in the walls underground or on objects. If they get stuck in the walls just put a room there, if they get stuck around something else just fiddle with the object or room till they start working again. I also feel like there isn't much of a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I thought the negative comments about the tutorial style were a bit dramatic--until I tried the game. You folks have to hire someone to help you out with the tutorial and UI. Why are there 3-4 pop-ups at once trying to teach you something? Why are you introducing 3-4 new concepts/terms in one step? What am I supposed to be doing? It's like no one on your team has any understanding of UX whatsoever. I'm a fan of this type of game, but you've somehow turned it into the least fun and engaging…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, I wasn't impressed. The difficulty curve is harsh, it front loads a bunch of instructions at you without easing you into how things work even if you do the tutorial, and if you play a kinder difficulty you can't unlock achievements. It's gatekeeping at it's finest, making the game inaccessible for people who don't immediately open up a spreadsheet at the start of a game. A lot of the quests early on aren't possible to complete, yet they keep bombarding you with requests that'll…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While the game looks great and looks like it'd be up my alley, I would suggest passing on this one. If you're fan of simulations, tycoon games, or "create your own product" games - pass on it. Maybe it'll get better in the future though. For a Tycoon game, the progression didn't make a ton of sense to me, neither did the potions in relation to the progression. Better ingredients + product in demand = profit, right? Not really! I found that every marketing attempt failed (aside maybe two), and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's the best and worst game for ADHD. I say that because it takes away all outside thought, which those of us who have it know that can be a blessing and a curse. After getting through all of the very detailed tutorials (which can feel a little overwhelming for a cozy/simulator, especially if you start it when your tired like I did lol), you really do control EVERYTHING. As in there is always something that needs doing, there's always something taking your attention. It sucks you completely…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I thought people were being whiny about the tutorial and UI but wow. It will teach me about marketing but completely gloss over the potion making. How do I unlock more recipes? What do these symbols mean? What is a speech potion anyways? Like, what are they buying them for? I feel as a potion seller I should know what the potions do. I might as well name the potions Red Potion A, Red Potion B. I am slowly going bankrupt because I can't tell if my store is open or not. According to the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game play is simple enough with a steep learning curve and demands active adjustment of your production at all times. It feels rather unsatisfactory to have to scrap your entire product lines on a regular basis "to keep up with the competition", while being capped hard by ramping costs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've been playing for 5 minutes, and in that time: 1) The tutorial displayed a long message that I needed to read but automatically went to the next message before I could finish, so I restarted the game and tried again, 2) Then the tutorial broke because it asked me to confirm production, but I had already done that, so it was asking me to click on a green check mark that wasn't there. Had to ctrl-alt-del to close the game. This is called a "quitting moment". First impressions are so…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unplayable! Devs I hope you read and reply because this is constructive critism for a game that on its visuals and face looks promising. After playing for 8hrs I was never able to progress and had to keep resetting. Why? 1. You have to hire more than 1 person for some jobs or your supply chain breaks down but I have gone 5+ days without seeing an Alchemist or a Gardener to hire. (16 days on last run). 2. The competition always goes for your best selling product. AI needs to either be…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would have refunded but by the time problems started showing I was 2.5hrs in. UI is overall terrible and elements get 'stuck' on menus until save/reload (I'm looking at you, employee menu,) weird undiagnoseable work stoppages, bug including rooms randomly disappearing.... This feels like a game that got pushed to final release for financial reasons, it just doesn't feel ready.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just kinda meh. Seems way undercooked. Can barely feel like you're making progress. Minions have pretty bad routine planning. Experimenting with potions is very bland and limited. The controls over what to prioritise seem to barely exist. Game keeps trying to push me to litter every room with trinkets and decorations, rather than actual equipment or stock. And I can barely afford rent as it is. Think there's basically lots of games that do every aspect of this sort of stuff better.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Restarted the play-through a few times trying to understand the economy, it is super confusing even though it should be simple. The tutorial tosses way to many different things at once increasing the complexity. Uninstalled but too late for refund.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was very interested based on genre, art style, and music, so I bought it when it released. And then, in the first five minutes, literally during the tutorial, there was a massive UI bug that softlocked the game. Specifically, in the hiring pane, it shows no one if you select no filter (earlier when you're hiring your first clerk it shows all candidates regardless of job), and if you do select a filter, it's random whether it will show the candidates of that job type or a different job type.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to believe that the game did have a good premise and loving creators. But it doesn't feel like it's coming through in the right way. The game gets repetitive and exponentially harder. after 8 or more tries I still don't understand how to progress and I also don't feel like there is a point to anything. It's just incrimental and chaotic. If you're doing good the competition seem to become even better still. The economy looks like it could make sense but I don't understand it. The further…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It'S hard to say, why people dislike it so much recently. I haven't encountered any bugs, but I was frustrated at the beginning. Game isn't easy to start, it did bad work of teaching new player how to play plus tutorial is boring, but if you last thru it, real game starts and it's great. Storage system is a little bit problematic, there isn't one place to set how much resources you want to keep, you have to have at least one item in storage to start setting that up and storage is pretty much…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In an effort to play games already in my library, I finished Potion Tycoon this last week and after seeing the amount of negative reviews, I've gotta throw my two cents in here, too. As of right now, only 2% of players have the "Finished Game on Normal Difficulty" achievement, which really surprised me. It's not /that/ difficult of a game. I had some trouble with the early game difficulty curve (Pro-tip: establish a revenue source before expanding operations), but after a handful of restarts,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After about 9 hours I feel like you've seen everything the game has to offer. After that, it feels like you're spinning your wheels in the mud, because the game lacks the granular information and control you'd need to really optimize and automate processes. My biggest criticism is that the late-game technologies feel sort of pointless because money already felt pretty much meaningless by the time I was only midway up the research tree, and the late-game technologies don't feel particularly well…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfortunately, they gave up on developing this game and it left early access too early. It's just not fleshed out sufficiently to be a fun game. Maybe try it on STEEP discount like the 60% it is off currently.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game becomes boring and repetitive very quickly. Initially, it was a bit challenging to get things going, but once I reached a certain point, paid off the loans, and the money started coming in rapidly, I lost interest in pursuing the goals the game presented. It felt like there was no reason to continue playing. Additionally, I got stuck at one point because I couldn't build certain objects, and the game offered no explanation for this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An automation production game. Where you cant scale anything. Want to hire a second gardener, none for hire. Wan't to plant the same item in two cultivation boxes. Can't Not Fun.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Potion Tycoon, a potion store management game with potion crafting and market dynamics, released on Steam.
unlabelledView post →Played 4 times, crashed 4 times. High-spec PC, all drivers updated. Sent the reports or engine crash. Cannot recommend.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not that fun and a little clunky. It doesn't seem as polished as it could be. And it seems buggy -- even though I have a cash register, a clerk, and interested customers, I can't sell potions because the clerk is idling by the staircase.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was really good, I had a learning curve and failed. But I'm trying again now with my newfound knowledge.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's pretty bad. Nobody goes into your shop because you don't have one type of potion, so you are always just losing money every game day and perpetually running out of money. I frequently find myself just falling into awful gold sinkdeaths The game is buggy and unpayable on release, most people are unable to progress at all. Everybody on the dev team got fired for this terrible release BTW, plus all those alegations. It's a mess.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR Review: Current game is unplayable for me due to crashes, after fixing these bugs I'd give the game 7/10 worth the money. However, come back to it later once the bugs are fixed I bought the game yesterday and played it for a few hours and had a good time, the system for making/upgrading potions took a minute to work out but is quite satisfying to get right. However, after coming back to it today and trying to continue my game, the game goes "not responding" every 10 seconds or so which…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun side scroller with a good balance of building, running a shop, and creating potions. Sort of reminds me of "Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator" which I enjoyed as well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is the first game where the tutorial is so annoying, I lost every desire to play the game. Instead of learning step by step, you get some hints, sell a first potions and then so much stuff is explained without actually anything practicall happening, I can't remember it all just to sell a second potion. Probably a me-problem, since I learn by doing and not by reading and memorizing walls of text.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm sure some people will say I didn't give this a proper go, but I had no idea what I'm supposed to do and some options seemed to not work properly. A proper tutorial with each step explained would help, but what we get is a deluge of information that's impossible to absorb. No thanks.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems like it could have used some more time in the oven. Low on options in both game choices and even basic settings like controls. Slow/off pacing that makes it feel really hands off while you wait for things to happen. Some really obvious bugs here and there, paired with the other issues really hint that this is not a well tested or fully finished product. Looking forward to patches and updates to round this out, but until then this doesn't seem like a full game worth the time or…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's alright. I post this as negative simply because there are so many better similar games that scratch the same itch, like Mind over Magic, rimworld, Corsair cove, potionomics if you really want the econ and crafting rather than building etc. That I don't think I can recommend this one if someone is looking at a review to decide.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Started with a cauldron and a dream. Ended up becoming kingmaker. Hire weirdos. Mix monster toe. Outsell rivals. Gameplay? deep. Systems? satisfying. Vibe? Cozy chaos. UI's clunky early on. Late game slows down in master diff. But once it clicks, it clicks. Perfect for fans of management sims with a magical twist. Bubbling fun. 4/5 potions. Would concoct again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool concept but buggy. The game overloads you with lots of information, but never lets you know what is immediately relevant. The tutorial is also insufficient. Unless you know what you're doing already, you're doomed.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a game that was released too early. The basic game loop is fun and satisfying, the brewing system is complex enough to get creative, the overall look of the game is very cute and the new custom game mode gives it some replayability. I had a great time building and managing my little potion shop. It seems like the development process of this game was really rocky and they had to release before it could get its final polish. Some really obvious bugs made it into the final release, not…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have played for six hours. The concept is neat, it was genuinely enjoyable until suddenly the items in half my rooms were un-selectable and I couldn't move them. Then the furniture I could move would cause the game to crash if I tried. Don't expect to actually get too far into the game in its current state. I didn't even reach the end of the "main" quest before the game became unplayable due to the bugs. If the developers ever manage to get the game to a playable state it'll be a neat…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Takes a bit of getting used to, but it's interesting once you learn the rules. Top tips: If you can't afford it - even at the start, don't buy it, wait until you have enough funds to comfortably buy items and only buy the bare minimum. Do not buy herbs or artefacts - wait for them to be rewards from VIPs Research early! Do not upgrade staff until you need to. So, using the example of a veteran alchemist to research new products, don't upgrade to veteran when this research is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wasn't sure if this would be great since recent reviews were technically "Mixed" at the time, but I don't think that's fair for this game. A few people report having issues that make it difficult or impossible to continue a save file, but the developer seems very responsive. And, it is in EA still. There are going to be some bugs. Some people seem to expect a flawless experience even though they are basically paying to help beta test. I haven't run into any issues yet that have caused me to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →tldr: If thinking of buying, hold out for a sale. It's kinda buggy : egs >sales desk occasionally gives a bugged negative value result >when you try to up or down the position of items in production queues on some productions desks, it'll move the item somewhere in the queue other than what you wanted >when moving rooms around sometimes items within the room won't be moved with the room and will be left in untouchable limbo. Mostly the game involves: > creating mushrooms and herbs >…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game crashes if you make too many changes during building mode. Upload an earlier save to be able to continue, then make sure to only implement a few changes at a time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The most confusing tutorial I ever saw.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I must be getting soft because I guess I'd recommend this game. Like, it's just not very well balanced or paced and as mentioned by others, the UI is obnoxious, but if the devs put like any time into this they could fix those problems. Mine didn't crash but I did encounter a few bugs. All that said, I did still play this game for 20 hours and will probably play again so like, if you think you'd like this game you probably would. I recommend it especially after (if) the devs provide an update or…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great mechanics, buggy mess. During my playrhough i crashed once and was forced to reload or restart the game about 6 times. Do not buy until reviews improve, otherwize a great potion making game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Before I bought the game I checked some negative reviews and many were touting the game being overtly hard. Yeah the tutorial will not advertise that your money will be tight and you can make bad decisions. Maybe it could say that, as it seems difficulty is not generally a thing in tycoon games these days. They tend to play more like clicker games - wait to press button, numbers go up. In Potion Tycoon you just need to think a bit about what you're doing and whether you can really afford some…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just finished the run on adept level. I had a lot of fun with the game. Some parts are simple, some are challenging. I do agree with the comments about how confusing some things are but there is a great walk through written in the guides section which really helped me.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm pretty sure if I stuck around and tried harder to figure out wtf was going on in this game, that I'd likely give it a positive review. With the game state now, I just can't. I played about 5 hours. Started over 4 times, each time trying to figure out how things went wrong. I read the FAQs and the Tips/Tricks post. But unlike many games in this genre, there is a component to the game that I absolutely hate. You essentially have a time limit. Basically, you get boosts from the game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In my playthrough I had no bugs and no crashes. But the game has very limited replayability (different starting ingredients) , the mechanics are not explained. What does the room rating do? Is it only for the mood? What is a "cult following"? And many mechanics are shallow and i basically ignored them in my one play-through. Different customer budgets and preferences, building elements to guide my customers, some of the processing units, marketing, decorations The only mechanic that is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Be prepared to think about this game when you're not playing it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like the style. The tutorial is AWFUL. So much stuff happens at once and the videos overlaying just makes everything more confusing. That said, after 5 hours of gameplay, I could not figure out a running shop. Material cost and wages straight up outweigh the sales. Every single time. Even when 'guided' by the tutorial, the resulting shop makes minus. Either I'm not getting how the game works at all, or the numbers are so tight that you cannot make ANY mistake or deviation from the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →basic shot management game. could use some improvements like a more rewarding research system. figuring out how to make potions (better) is fun and easy to understand/ not overwhelming. no bugs encountered yet. it´s a ok game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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