Hello all! Welcome back to Play It By Ear, a weekly column where every Friday I discuss my thoughts on a different video game’s soundtrack.
You can see the list of upcoming games and their corresponding playlists here. I will try to focus on lesser-known games or games whose soundtracks I feel can be a bit overlooked, but some of the bigger games may sneak their way in.
Today’s Game: Potionomics
Release Date: October 17, 2022
Platform: Windows
Developer: Voracious Games
Composer: Greg Nicolett
Other Works by Same Composer: Chicago Overcoat film soundtrack (2009), Re/Collection short film soundtrack (2017), Adams short film soundtrack (2019), The Lady Edison short film soundtrack (2021)
Availability: YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, Steam, Bandcamp, Prime Music
Number of Songs: 50
Approximate Total Time: 1 hour 38 minutes
Played the Game? No.
What Kind of Game Is This? Potionomics is a shop simulator game following a young woman named Sylvia who recently inherited a potion shop in the magical city of Rafta from her deceased uncle. Sylvia’s goal, of course, is for her shop to become the most popular in the city. There are deck-building elements to the game, as negotiations are carried out using cards, but you are also able to customize your shop, adjust the recipes of your potions, and hire people to find you new ingredients.
Top Songs or Songs of Note (in Track Order):
Main Theme
One of the things I like most about this OST is the sense of magic that imbues every song, and the beautiful orchestral vibes of the main theme in particular do a great job of introducing this.
Sylvia vs. Roxanne
The strings provide this one with a groovy backbone, while the brass adds a big-band swing that makes it hard not to get immersed in the song.
Muktuk’s Calling
The humming voices, heavy percussion, and brass all combine to produce a strong rhythm that really gets you pumped up.
Mint’s Quest for Adventure
I always love a good mix of chiptune and orchestral instruments, and this one does a great job of capturing the spirit of adventure
The Cat Pirates
This one reminds me vaguely of ‘The Real Catslug God’ from Lila’s Sky Ark due to the use of the cat voices, although tone-wise they are very different. This could have been just a novelty song, but it ended up both being very catchy and having a surprising depth.
Afternoon Delights
This is just so relaxing and charming, but with a bit of a peppy side to it.
Sylvia vs. Boss Finn
I’m pretty sure this is the accompaniment to a battle against a mobster, and it shows. It feels straight out of a mob drama with the bass and booming brass, and the occasional electronic beats add a very nice twist to the style.
Sylvia vs. Anubia
The dubstep elements, heavy beats, and Egyptian flare combine to create a track that is quite unique.
Sylvia’s Final Offer
This track takes the game’s primary musical style and turns it up to eleven, creating a very epic final boss feel.
Honorable Mentions: Sunrise in Rafta, Carnival (Robin’s Theme), Roxanne’s Invitation, Rafta’s Past, Quinn’s Waltz, Busy Being Luna, Sylvia vs. Corsac, Adventuring Across Rafta, Xid’s Theme, Mint Joins the Guild, Romance in Rafta, A Cat Pirate’s Yarn, Xid Rocks the Guild Hall
Overall Thoughts: I came across Potionomics while hunting down nominations for Katie’s current Video Game Song Tournament and it, along with Lila’s Sky Ark, instantly became one of my favorite finds. I wasn’t sure what to expect initially, as the game itself looked kind of mobile-game-ish to me. As soon as I heard the main theme, though, I knew it was something special. The game’s soundtrack perfectly captures that sense of magic and whimsy that you might have felt while watching a fantasy adventure movie as a kid. The layers of strings, brass, and percussion give it this full, orchestral feel that I was not expecting. Beyond that, though, is the diversity of sound on display. From the humming and chanting of ‘Muktuk’s Calling’ to the chiptune of ‘Mint’s Quest for Adventure’ and the yowling of ‘The Cat Pirates’, from the calming tone of ‘Afternoon Delights’ to the Scottish sound of ‘Xid Rocks the Guild Hall’, there is a little bit of everything here and it keeps the soundtrack feeling fresh throughout. Honestly, I can’t think of any major criticisms that I have for this game’s OST. It’s just wonderful.
Bonus Prompts:
- Do you agree or disagree with my assessment of the soundtrack?
- Are there any tracks, that I mentioned or didn’t mention, that you would like to further discuss?
- What game soundtracks have you been listening to recently? What’s been grabbing your attention?
- Are there any game soundtracks that you would like me to cover in the future?
And there we have it! Thanks so much for reading and listening to this soundtrack with me.
Last Week: Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Next Week: Descent II