POTIONS: A CURIOUS TALE
Potions: A Curious Tale by Stumbling Cat first caught my attention thanks to all the Helios plushies around their booth! Helios is your companion (or familiar) in the game, and the little cat plushie was so cute—I immediately wanted one. I love fantasy games, and a game centered around potion-making seemed right up my alley. I’m also a big fan of adventure games like The Legend of Zelda, so I knew I’d enjoy the RPG elements. This game seemed like a perfect blend of all the things I love.
In Potions: A Curious Tale, you play as Luna, a young witch searching for answers through potion crafting. Along the way, she encounters someone who might be able to help her on her journey. What’s really unique is that the game doesn’t use weapons—instead, players must explore the world using the environment and potions to overcome obstacles. The gameplay reminded me of Echoes of Wisdom (the Legend of Zelda spinoff), where you use your surroundings and resources instead of traditional combat to defeat enemies and navigate the world. The story immediately captured my attention and made me want to continue playing to see what would unfold. Visually, I’d describe it as a 2.5D art style, similar to the Link’s Awakening remake. It has a charming, hand-drawn feel that really pulls you into its world.
One thing that really stood out to me was something Renee from Stumbling Cat shared during our chat: she felt many games rely on “needless violence,” and wanted to offer players a different kind of experience. Her goal was to create unique ways to engage with enemies—without just eliminating them. Using potions and the environment to solve problems offers a refreshing new perspective. You’re not rewarded for going on a rampage—you’re encouraged to think creatively. Renee also had a panel at GeekFest West where she shared the trials and tribulations of creating and marketing a game– including how she could tell her game was taking off when she found Reddit posts of people asking to stop talking about the game!
I would highly recommend Potions: A Curious Tale to anyone who loves adventure or RPG games. The story is strong, the world is cozy, and experimenting with potions is a lot of fun. It’s the perfect game for anyone looking to escape into a magical setting for a while. Both a demo and the full game are available now on Steam, and I’d suggest any Zelda or fantasy adventure fan give it a try.
LilForestFae: And to start, so it's Potions, a Curious Tale. So what inspired you to create this game?
Renee: Yeah, I was inspired by my frustration that so many games where you're supposed to be the hero, you're kind of rewarded for senseless slaughter. I wanted to figure out how to make a game where there's combat, but you have to look at it with nuance, and that's where actually the potion mechanic came from, because aggressive action requires resources. It encourages you to look at aggressive action through a new light, and it encourages players to only sort of engage in combat when it's gonna be beneficial to them.
Fae: Yeah, when I was playing, like, there was that one mushroom, and I was like, I could probably just, like, run away from this guy for a little bit, but I like that and how you have to kind of use the environment to fight, because she's not just going to punch the mushroom away, kind of thing. I like that. What kind of games like do you usually play that kind of inspired wanting to make this?
Renee: Yeah, honestly, I play basically everything. When I was little, I grew up on first-person shooters. So I think my first four games in order, I know, were Wolfenstein 3d, Doom, Duke Nukem 3d, and then Pokemon Yellow.
Fae: Okay, yeah.
Renee: So, yeah, I, you know, I got into JRPGs, MMOs, pretty much everything. I'm not as big on, like, RTS games, but yeah, I love fantasy worlds. I love folklore, and so I really brought those elements into Potions.
Fae: Yeah, I'm personally a Zelda fan. So, like, I love the adventure fantasy aesthetic. So I love this.
Renee: Yeah, definitely, yeah, Zelda vibe, yeah. I'm actually really glad that I launched it when I did, because we came about at about six months before Echoes of Wisdom.
Fae: Oh, perfect! And that’s exactly….
Renee: …and I feel like very echoes of wisdom, like, yeah.
Fae: Yeah, another example using your environment and the things around you to do things. I love that.
Fae: What was it like when you were first starting out, like, what was it? What is something that you wish you could go back and, like, either inform yourself or like, advice you could give yourself for when you were first starting out? Is this your first game that you have made?
Renee: Yeah, I mean, so this was the first game, a big game I really started on throughout its development process. I had helped many other companies make games. But really, I think the biggest learning that I had early in development was learning to be kind to myself, because it's really easy to overwork, to burn out, to beat yourself up about burning out, and, like, maintain burnout. And so I think the most important lesson I learned was to be kind with myself, to figure out how to pace myself, and that helped me maintain motivation.
Fae: Yeah, yeah. I like that. Because, you know, they always say it's about the grind and stuff, you do need to be kind yourself, and you can do better when you take care of yourself.
Renee: Exactly, especially with creative work, or with, like, hard technical work, having a well-rested mind. And yeah, that's just super important.
Fae: Yeah, yeah, there's deadlines, but at the end of the day, it'll get done, it will get done, it will get done. So what are some future goals for the game? Like you said, it is launched on Steam and everything. So are you planning any DLC or adding any updates, or anything like that?
Renee: Yeah, so we've done a number of updates, but the biggest thing we're working on right now is we're bringing it to consoles, so it'll be across the major platforms, and when we launch the console version, we're going to be adding some free end game content, including to the PC version, and that's gonna have an entire new temple, which is basically our dungeons.
Fae: Oh, nice. Oh, wow, okay. Oh, that is so that you have. You have, like, temples and stuff like that. I like that. So, are you the solo developer? Do you have like, a team behind this or…?
Renee: Yeah, so I'm, uh, I'm the lead developer. Um. I definitely worked with various contractors throughout development, mostly for art and audio.
Fae: Okay, yeah, I really like the music of this. It's very nice, um. And what, what inspired you for, like, the art style here, because it is, um, pretty simple, but it's, it's also very in-depth at the same time. Like, there's a lot of, like, environmental stuff around. So, like, what was your kind of inspiration for this?
Renee: Yeah, I have a lot of inspirations. I think my two core ones were fairy tales. Like fairy tales, story books, and then, like, Miyazaki Studio Ghibli films, because they did such a beautiful job having rich, detailed, painterly backgrounds, and then cel-shaded characters that pop out. And that actually works really well for gameplay, because it helps you identify what's active and what's background.
Fae: Yeah, yeah. That's, I guess that's how I was trying to put it. It's like, the backgrounds are so detailed, and then, like, the characters stick out. And I like, I like that a lot.
Renee: Yeah. That makes it readable.
Fae: Yeah, yeah. And especially with games like this, where there's some things you can interact with and some things you don't, that is very helpful to know which are your interactables.
Renee: Exactly, exactly.
Fae: Is there anything else you would you would like to share about your game or that you'd like to let people know?
Renee: Yeah, definitely follow us across social media. I am Riku Kat, R, I, K, U, K, A, T. I actually create a lot of content that's educational for game developers. And then, in addition to coming out with the console versions, we have amazing merch at our store, including adorable Helios plushies.
Fae: Yeah, I was gonna say they’re just so cute.
Renee: And he's your feline familiar in the game, so you get to know him very well, as well as his catty commentary.
Fae: Oh, good, yay. Yeah, I love little plushies and stuff. So that's it, perfect. Well, thank you so much, and thank you for a great interview.
Renee: Yeah, my pleasure.
