Apothecaria - The Solo Journaling Game That Wants to Keep You Playing
The witch of High Rannoc has disappeared.
No one knows the exact reason she left, but most people don't dig too deeply into the business of witches. However, it is known is that High Rannoc now needs a new witch.
That witch is you.
Apothecaria is a cozy journaling game written by Anna Blackwell and published by Blackwell games. You play as a witch who has just taken over the position as the witch of High Rannoc. Your job is to tend to any villagers, adventurers or even monsters that come to you for help. To do so, you will need to venture out into wild to obtain reagents in order to brew potions to heal the ailments of the afflicted. If you are successful, you get paid and gain reputation. However, if you take too long wandering the wilds, you will not get paid and may lose your reputation. Use your hard earned money to buy upgrades for your cottage or other tools to make the collecting of reagents more efficient. But as your reputation grows, so will the difficulty of the afflictions that must be cured. If you play long enough, you may even learn what happened to the witch that used to have your job.
How Apothecaria Brings you Back for More
In the information age that we find ourselves in, we are all familiar with dopamine. In case you aren't familiar, dopamine is a hormone/chemical that plays a large role in how we humans feel pleasure or reward. It is an essential element in the building of habits and drives our behavior. Social media, sex, games, drugs, food, pets, etc. are all things that can cause our brain to release dopamine, and because that dopamine is pleasurable, we seek to perform those behaviors as often as possible to get more dopamine. Dopamine is fun.
I'm not a doctor or scientist so that is as far as I am going with any explanation on dopamine.
Just recently, I came across an article from the blog Skeleton Code Machine called "What Kind of Fun Are You Having?". In that article, Exeunt Press lists the types of fun that were mentioned in a research paper written in the early-2000's. I will list the 8 types of fun in a concise manner below, but definitely checkout the linked blog post for better explanations.
The 8 Types of Fun
- Sensation - physical interaction
- Fantasy - imagination
- Narrative - stories or drama
- Challenge - overcoming obstacles
- Fellowship - social interaction
- Discovery - exploration of the game
- Expression - Creativity
- Submission - surrendering to the game
Sensation - To play Apothecaria you will only need the rules, a deck of cards, writing/drawing utensils, and a journal of some sorts. I journal electronically and I only own the pdf version of the rules, so I don't get the full physical interaction fun but Sensation is lower on my rankings of types of fun. I believe those that enjoy this type of fun will do best with a physical journal.
Fantasy - Most TTRPG's handle this type of fun very easily. By their nature, they take our imaginations to places away from our physical reality. Apothecaria is no different. You are a witch. You brew potions. You explore fantastical settings. Let your imagination fly and enjoy the festivals.
Narrative - On the surface, it may seem like Apothecaria doesn't give you a set structure to build a story other than the clues you may find about the missing witch. However, as I played, I noticed that I would tie events together without even trying to do it. Whether it was thoughts from my witch's past, to the patients, to the people/creatures we meet along the way, they all find a way to fit into the story.
Challenge - The mechanics for gameplay in Apothecaria are very simple. You draw cards to attempt to beat a target number to find a specific reagent. If the card is higher you find it and your timer reduces by 1. Yes, you are under a time constraint for many of the ailments (but not all). If your card is lower, you will need to draw again and once again reduce the timer. The challenge comes from choosing reagents needed to cure the patient while not spending too much time looking for them or traveling to the various biomes.
Fellowship - This is the one area in which Apothecaria lacks. This is a solo journaling game after all. However, there is a discord for Blackwell games where people share their journals and thoughts about the game. But if Fellowship is high on your list, you probably aren't looking at playing solo anyways.
Discovery - There are many parts of Apothecaria that require interacting with the gameplay in order to explore. This includes new biomes and reagents that can only be reached once certain criteria is met. Or finding clues about the previous witch require multiple pulls of Joker cards and since there are only 2 Jokers, this is going to take a bit of time in the game. There are seasonal festivals which can only be experienced after multiple sessions of play.
Expression - Creativity is very much a foundational aspect of solo journaling games and Apothecaria is no different. Every card pull may be an opportunity to answer some type of prompt and this is your chance to shape the world or the characters how you see fit. Anna Blackwell openly encourages you to make the game your own. Expression is probably the #1 type of fun that I look for in games, so that may be the reason I am drawn towards so many solo games. Although collaborative story-telling at a table of other players is really awesome as well.
Submission - Surrendering to the game usually involves games with a lot of repetitive tasks. Think games like Minecraft, Civilization, Tetris, or Candy Crush. This is losing yourself to the flow of the game's mechanics and then wondering where the time went as you were wallowing in your pool of dopamine. Apothecaria is similar as it's gameplay loop is repetitive. You get a patient, you choose the reagents needed, you go out foraging, you return and get paid, you have a short downtime activity then you repeat. One loop equals one week in the world of Apothecaria. Can you finish the year?
Final Thoughts
Apothecaria is a well-written solo journaling game aimed at those who really want to express their creativity in a cozy, pastoral setting. As someone who usually prefers games that offer more tension or adventure, I had my doubts when I started reading this one. But yet, I could not stop reading it. Then I figured I will play one round to give it a shot. Then I had to play another round. And I look forward to playing the third week when I get the chance. Maybe I'll share my journal with you in the future.
You can pick up Apothecaria from itch.io here.
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