Strange Antiquities Review

Game: Strange Antiquities
Genre: Adventure, Simulation, Indie, Casual
System: Steam (Windows)
Developers | Publishers: Bad Viking | Iceberg Interactive
Controller Support: Yes
Steam Deck: Unknown
Price: US $16.19 | UK £13.49 | EU € 15.47
Release Date: September 17th, 2025

A review code was provided; many thanks to Iceberg Interactive.

Strange Antiquities is a 2025 puzzle game developed by Bad Viking and released by Iceberg Interactive. While not a direct sequel to 2022’s Strange Horticulture, it is in the same universe and the same town, and we might even see some familiar faces. 

Premise

In Strange Antiquities, we return to the quaint, yet gloomy town of Undermere, where there are mysteries and secrets galore. We play the role of temporary custodian of a store dealing in occult antiquities. We have to find and identify arcane artifacts and use our growing collection of objects and knowledge to help the townspeople with their unusual problems.

The Gameplay of Strange Antiquities

We can roughly divide Strange Antiquities‘ gameplay into three parts: identifying and selling antiquities, exploration, and battling for our sanity. 

First, we have the identification and selling of arcane objects. We start with a few, and then as the game progresses, we acquire more one way or another. We start the game with a basic encyclopedia of occult artefacts, for which we receive more pages as time and story progress. Additionally, we receive more books, such as those on symbols and stones, which are helpful when identifying the objects.

Each object can be examined in several ways: what is its color and composition, how it feels when we touch it, what is its scent, how does it sound, and lastly, what is our inner perception telling us about the object. Combining clues from the books, what our clients have told us, and what our senses are telling us will lead us to the correct item. 

Strange Antiquities has a hint button in the upper-right corner of the screen. It doesn’t outright show us the correct artefact, but instead gives us clues where to look for it. Once we’ve identified an object correctly, we get a nice tick next to its entry in the encyclopedia.

Depending on what we’ve chosen in the settings, we’ll either have a name card next to the object on the shelves in the shop, or not. Sometimes, our customers may have a particular request in mind, which makes the whole process easier. Most of the time, however, they’ll have a vague idea of what they need, its effects, and outcomes. Then, it’s up to us to find something in the books that will be helpful, and then find the object on the shelves. Sometimes we have to choose between several objects, each suitable to a degree, and what we ultimately choose will impact the story and its ending. 

Secondly, we have exploration – we start with one map, of the town of Undermere, but as the story progresses, we acquire more maps. We can freely explore each map, and sometimes, if we are lucky, we might even happen upon artefacts for the shop. Additionally, our customers may provide us with a clue as to where to look for new stock for the shop. Sometimes, we ourselves have a spot of tarot reading, and a card might be a clue as well. 

Mini Game

And thirdly, we have the mini game, when we need to fight against insanity and instability. If we make too many wrong guesses when identifying an object or get a bit lost exploring, our levels of fear and instability increase. We can see how close to a mini-game we are if we keep an eye on the cursor in the lower-right corner. It looks like a clock, and while we are in the green part, we are safe. The danger increases as we approach the red part.

The mini game itself is fun, and I admit to making a few wrong choices purely on purpose. The mini game is shaped like a seal that we need to break. We roll dice with symbols on their sides, and need to match the symbols on the dice to a corresponding portion of the seal to break it. We can roll the dice as many times as we want, but getting three crossbones means losing one of the three lives we have. If we have a partial match to a section of the seal, we can lock those dice until we get the rest as well. Getting five dice symbols of the same kind automatically breaks the whole seal. 

The World of Strange Antiquities

Much like the previous game, Strange Horticulture, Strange Antiquities is an elegant puzzle game, with a lot of life and attention to detail. The shop feels alive, what with our cat companion slumbering away, while we peruse the books. The characters, old and new, feel like old friends from the very beginning. We have a handy contact book, where we can see all the characters, with their traits, stories, and visits. 

The encyclopedia entries and the maps feel and look real and all that, combined with the somber soundtrack, make Strange Antiquities perfect for a moody autumnal afternoon. It is an Autumn game, or at the very least a game for an Autumnal mood. 

Some Other Things

Strange Antiquities has basic audio and video settings. We can toggle off and on the option to auto-label items once they are identified. We can also adjust font size. Strange Antiquities has an option for people with arachnophobia – we can turn off visible spiders. 

The controls are basic and intuitive – WASD for movement around the shop and left and right mouse buttons for interactions. 

The game has Steam achievements, but no Trading cards yet.

Conclusion

Strange Antiquities is a welcome return to the moody town of Undermere. It is what you would like from a cozy game for Autumn – strange artefacts, quirky characters, a moody soundtrack, a cat you can pet, and of course, an overarching mystery to solve.