Game: Tiny Witch
Genre: Simulation, Arcade, Time Management
System: Steam (Windows only)
Developer|Publisher: Creative Hand
Controller Support: Yes
Price: UK £7.65 | US $8.99 | EU € 8,77
Release Date: September 1st, 2023
Review code used with many thanks to Future Friends.
Tiny Witch is a shop-running simulation game that pits players against angry customers. To succeed, you need to brew up magical items for all sorts of customers and earn enough money to be able to escape the store.
Stressful Fun
I am a big fan of the stressful, fun simulation genre that seems never quite to go away. Most have you handling an increasingly difficult number of enraged customers in a restaurant setting, like Tapper or Plate Up! But Tiny Witch takes us into the life of a witch who didn’t quite read through the contract she signed, and she is now stuck in a store until she can make enough money to leave.
In a similar fashion to others in the same genre, you start out with recipes that need to be made in time to service the customers who come in for items. What you make them varies depending on what location you are currently in; it could be anything from slime creatures to zombies or skeletons. But the customers come in faster than you can possibly serve them, and each one brings an arsenal of things to throw at you if you take too long to pull together their order.
So, how does Tiny Witch hold up against many of my favourites in the same genre? Surprisingly, it works pretty well, considering how simple and sweet this little game is.
Short but Replayable
One of the main things I like about stressful fun sims is their replayability. I prefer multiplayer ones, whether it be couch co-op or online, but Tiny Witch’s single-player experience felt pretty good. The game is tailored to be played alone, and it’s pretty challenging all through.
I can see myself picking this one back up repeatedly when I’m in the mood for a little solo store-running when my friends are not online or I only have a few minutes to stress myself out as much as possible.
Cute, Wholesome Fun
Tiny Witch is adorable. I love the cute little sprites and how they all wiggle around. The movements are polished and bouncy, the screen is incredibly readable even during the most stressful days, and the game is challenging enough to keep you engaged. I had a great time memorizing recipes, building up wealth, and buying myself helpful items and pets.
So far, it seems like every store you start in every location is wiped clean; I would have liked to see some rogue-lite elements put in, but they may show up later in Tiny Witch than I had time for. However, even without those, the gameplay is fun, cute, wholesome, and beautifully done.
The music in this game is amazing; I love how everything on screen seems to wiggle on the beat, tapping their feet, flapping their wings, or hopping around. It’s basically the same couple of songs over and over, but somehow, they didn’t get stale even after several hours.
The Cons of Tiny Witch
There is a lot to love about Tiny Witch, but I had a little bit of an issue with a couple of things. There was a little bit of lag or something between button inputs and what was happening on screen. Occasionally, I would stand next to something, hit the button to pick it up, and then move away from that square, and then I hadn’t picked up the item. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell at first if it was me or my enter key, but I have not had similar problems with, for instance, Plate Up!, which is bound to the same keys (WASD and Enter, mostly).
I actually went back to see if maybe there was something stuck underneath my Enter key; it was happening so often. I’m unsure what caused this issue, but it did not seem to be on my end. It might just need a little tuning.
Conclusion
Tiny Witch is beautiful, adorable, wholesome, and so much fun. I loved building up my stores and collecting pets; the rat is definitely my favourite (I named my rat pet Speedy). But that being said, Tiny Witch is pretty challenging. You need to be on your game and fast; there is no relaxing in the minion business! So, if you also love stressful, fun games, you should pick up Tiny Witch for yourself.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot.
