Get ready to channel your inner alchemist, Nintendo Switch owners. RedDeer.Games has just released Nora: The Wannabe Alchemist, a lighthearted farming simulator that tasks players with growing a humble potion shop into a thriving business through the power of plants and magic.
Becoming a Master Alchemist
In Nora: The Wannabe Alchemist, you take on the role of Nora, an eager young girl with dreams of becoming a great alchemist like her grandfather. However, Nora has a lot to learn, and she must start from the ground up – literally – by growing a variety of plants and combining them into basic recovery potions and elixirs.
As you progress, you’ll unlock new seeds and tools that allow you to cultivate more exotic plants with special properties. These can then be used to mix more intriguing and complex potions. Nora will also learn handy spells that help tend to her crops, like plant growth enchantments and weather control incantations.
Mixing Business With Pleasure
Growing plants and concocting potions is rewarding work, but if Nora wants to be a successful, reputable alchemist, she needs to turn it into a business. This means expanding the modest potion shop she inherited from her grandfather into a prosperous store and brand.
As Nora’s green thumb and repertoire of potions grows, players can fulfill orders from villagers, customize the shop’s interior, attract new customers, and collaborate with friendly local businesses. If her potions prove popular enough, Nora may even be able to open more store branches in neighboring villages.
Of course, running a business isn’t all profit margins and POTION signs. Nora still needs to work hard gathering ingredients, managing the store’s daily operations, and maintaining positive relationships with her customers. But players will find this entrepreneurial fantasy fun and fulfilling nonetheless.
A Charming, Magical World
While the shop management gameplay is engaging, the whimsical setting of Nora: The Wannabe Alchemist ties everything neatly together. Nora’s vibrant, cartoony village is populated with quirky characters to befriend, like a flamboyant fashion designer named Fabio and a competitive mermaid alchemist named Molly.
Players can customize the decor of Nora’s cottage and shop however they like as well. And the landscapes surrounding Nora’s hometown offer plenty of lush forests, flowerbeds, and magical groves where she can scavenge for potion ingredients and magical artifacts.
The lighting and weather effects are especially impressive, making Nora’s world feel alive as rainclouds drift by and fireflies sparkle after sunset. Peaceful piano melodies complete the fairy tale atmosphere.
Now on Nintendo Switch
First released on PC via Steam Early Access last year, Nora: The Wannabe Alchemist has seen a decent amount of success already. The game’s recent Nintendo Switch launch opens up RedDeer’s magical farming adventure to a new audience, offering the perfect platform for relaxed on-the-go play or gaming on the big screen.
If the initial trailer and screenshots are any indication, the Switch port runs as smoothly as the PC version while retaining all that covetable Nintendo charm. And with new content constantly being added, there will be plenty of potion brewing adventures in store for Nora and her ever-expanding legion of fans.
So for a wholesome, family-friendly game that imaginatively blends farming, shopkeeping, and alchemy into one bubbling magical cauldron, look no further than Nora: The Wannabe Alchemist, now on Nintendo Switch.
