2022’s Strange Horticulture was a breakout indie hit for brother developers Bad Viking. The puzzle game about running an esoteric plant store hid so many depths beyond its species-identifying core, with rich lore, character stories to become invested in, and the rumbling sense of a sinister underbelly. Today arrives its sequel Strange Antiquities, which I’m delighted to report not only maintains everything that made the first game so adored, but also improves it in almost every possible way.
Returning to the fantasy city of Undermere, we’re now working in an adorable little antiques shop that sells mystical obscura such as bejeweled statuettes, charm necklaces that vibrate with peculiar energies, and objets d’art that give you the heebie-jeebies when you hold them. The shop’s owner, your boss, has to head out of town for a few days, and you’re left in charge despite not knowing what any of the weird items on the shelves actually are. Thankfully the boss, a Thaumaturge named Eli White, also left behind his copy of Strange Artefacts: A Guide To Occult Objects by T.S. Gill, which contains descriptions of all manner of magical items. Sadly very few pictures of them, but enough information that, upon scouring the shelves and holding each object, you will be able to deduce which might be which, and as such supply them to your customers.
In this sense, things are much the same as in Strange Horticulture and your dealings with its otherworldly plant life. However, in Strange Antiquities, everything is a lot more detailed and involved. For instance, in the previous game you could pick up any plant and look at it, but that was about it. In Horticulture, every strange item in the collection can be investigated in four different ways. You can study its “Color and Composition,” use your “Sense of Touch,” seek out “Scent and Sound,” and apply your “Inner Perception.” The first three are self-explanatory, and each gives you a unique response for the object (unless they’re not applicable), while the fourth is a more psychic response to what you’re holding. For instance, a red bottle with a raised snake motif will tell you it’s made of red clay, while the snake’s eyes are “small green gemstones,” the bottle feeling smooth with the snake as “raised detailing,” and no particular special smell or noise. But you’ll also learn that to hold it is “unsettling,” and “the eyes seem to pierce my soul.” Such details are all essential to narrowing down exactly what this odd red bottle might be, and what it might contain.
Not only do you consult the indexed pages of Occult Objects, but you also have a tome written by Eli himself called Gemstones & Their Thaumic Properties, an ancient pamphlet entitled On Curses & their Effects, and an ever-growing pile of papers and notes that will provide further information. And then, as if all this weren’t enough, you’ve also got a detailed map of Undermere with which you can interact, clicking on one of its 32 named and dozens more unnamed locations in an effort to discover new antiquities to add to the shelves. Locations are identified through solving puzzles either dreamt during the night, or on notes given to you by clients, and some of these locations then reveal their own detailed maps to explore, such as the two floors of Gleaston Castle, and the Catacombs beneath the city.
That’s a lot! And yet it never feels unmanageable, Strange Horticulture‘s superb delivery ensures you gain all these elements at a steady pace, and the game is never in a rush. You can take as long as you need for every customer, without any antsy comments or nagging, meaning you can just relax and leaf through the pages of the books, or decide to solve a map puzzle for a break, never pressured. Also, the game comes with a hint system if you ever do get stuck, and it’s a super-smart one. Rather than just spoiling a puzzle, it begins with far more gentle nudges, like reminding you to check a note you received, or asking if you remember what a customer recently said about something. Prompts like these never feel like they’re taking away from your solving the puzzle, rather just turning your head to face the right direction before you start. Keeping asking for more help and things get more specific, of course.
But even more than hints, the way the game is presented does wonders for clarity. Like Horticulture, the whole game is played in the single location of the store, but this time the shop is so much better arranged. Customers appear in the middle, with shelves stretching off-screen to the left and right, and cupboards and drawers down below. Open the map and it’s spread out beneath the counter, and the same table is also capable of…well, I’m not going to tell you. Hidden all around this are tiny details, little knobs that, if pulled, can reveal secret drawers, and even places just below the counter with room for three of the mystical objects. Place the correct three in the correct order (based on other clues you receive) and even more secrets are uncovered. It means everything feels so special, all that thrill of a beautiful puzzle box, in the cozy setting of a candle-lit magical store.
The game’s puzzles, whether the core identification challenges that make up the bulk of what you do, or the extra elements that appear in the form of playing cards or furtively passed notes, are engagingly challenging without requiring Pentagon clearance to solve. Every character is an intriguing oddity, and the game’s overall storyline is much more involving than that of the previous game. The whole thing has a much greater sense of depth, and the sinister undertones feel more pronounced, more intriguing. It is everything a sequel should be: the same superb idea, better developed in every area, to produce something that reaches higher, wider, and deeper.
Strange Antiquities is out now for PC and Switch, for the ludicrously reasonable price of $16.
