Strange Antiquities unearthed in follow-up to Strange Horticulture

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

New occult shopkeeping puzzler in the town of Undermere unveiled for PC

In 2022, Bad Viking charmed us with their occult shopkeeping puzzler, Strange Horticulture. For an encore, the British brother team is taking the same idea and giving it an even more macabre twist in the upcoming Strange Antiquities.

While the previous game cast players as the proprieter of a plant store whose skills as an herbalist drew them into an centuries-old paranormal mystery, the new one is set several years later and promises "a new store, a new occult mystery to unravel," and of course a new cat to pet. You're still in the "quaint and gloomy" town of Undermere, but this time around you're not a store owner, just an apprentice to a thaumaturge who runs the Strange Antiquities shop. Ominously, when "hundreds of ravens start circling over the town," your boss departs and reluctantly leaves you in charge. Now you must "hunt down and identify powerful objects and arcane artefacts, and use them to assist the residents of Undermere with their curious and unusual problems."

As with its popular predecessor, Strange Antiquities is a hand-drawn, slideshow-style "dark and cozy" point-and-click adventure. No prior knowledge of the world is necessary, but returning players will find the town of Undermere pleasingly familiar, a place of "candle-lit libraries and macabre folklore, where strange things happen as often as it rains," surrounded by "hag-infested forests and rugged mountains." Once again you will split your time researching occult artefacts using the reference materials left in your care, and venturing out into town to investigate leads for potential new acquisitions, making strategic use of their arcane powers as you see fit in a story that promises "more mystery, puzzles, and dark twists and turns."

No release date or platform list has yet been announced, but Strange Antiquities will be published by Iceberg Interactive and can already be wishlisted on Steam for Windows PC. 

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