Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?!
- July 13, 2015
- Daylight Studios
- 8h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io StoreIn "Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?!", manage a weapon shop in a potato world, forging and selling weapons to questing heroes. Hire and manage over 30 potato smiths, research new blueprints, and discover heroes to sell your weapons to for profits. Utilize relics to discover new weapon blueprints and build your business across the potato universe.
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Reviews
- Charming art style and humorous dialogue filled with pop culture references.
- Engaging gameplay loop that keeps players entertained for several hours.
- Fun and light-hearted atmosphere, making it a great casual game.
- Gameplay becomes repetitive and grindy, especially in the later stages.
- Lack of depth and meaningful choices, leading to a feeling of monotony.
- Technical issues with saving progress can lead to frustration.
- gameplay151 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay has been described as largely repetitive and grindy, with many players noting a lack of depth and variety in mechanics, leading to a tedious experience over time. While some enjoy the simple and addictive nature of the core loop, others find it shallow and unchallenging, with issues like a confusing save system and unbalanced elements detracting from the overall enjoyment. Despite its charming graphics and humor, the gameplay often fails to maintain engagement beyond a few hours.
“The pop culture references and events make the gameplay interactive and fun.”
“I've actually completed around 90 hours of gameplay across a few accounts.”
“It's catchy music and gameplay have kept me going for a number of hours to the point dust has been gathering on my car keychain.”
“But it just feels tedious and grindy—the gameplay loop will remain mostly the same even as complexity is added and the loop itself doesn't have enough substance for me.”
“Unfortunately, the gameplay is extremely repetitive and mostly involves watching progress bars fill.”
“The gameplay loop itself is basically an incremental/clicker game with a worse UI as there are not really any choices to be made.”
- humor126 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players enjoying its light-hearted puns, pop culture references, and quirky characters, while others find it cringeworthy and overly reliant on tired jokes. The dialogue often elicits laughter, especially for those familiar with the references, but some critics argue that the humor can fall flat and lacks depth. Overall, the game is seen as entertaining and cute, appealing to those who appreciate a simplistic, pun-filled comedic style.
“This game is beyond ridiculous, but if you get all of the references, the dialogue is hilarious.”
“The hilarious dialogue, endless potato jokes, and many recognizable characters kept me chuckling throughout the game.”
“It's a great concept, cute graphics, funny writing, good little shout-out references to tons of games, and at times it's fun.”
- story123 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story in "Holy Potatoes!" is characterized by its quirky humor, puns, and pop culture references, providing a lighthearted backdrop to the gameplay. While some players found the narrative engaging and amusing, others criticized it for being linear, repetitive, and lacking depth, often feeling like filler. Overall, the story serves as a fun, albeit simplistic, framework for the game's crafting and management mechanics, appealing primarily to fans of casual, humorous gaming experiences.
“I played through the whole story and it held my attention almost all the way through.”
“The storyline feels natural coupled with characters that have a quirky sense of humor.”
“The story is quirky with tons of potato puns and game references.”
“Your objectives are trivial and banal — the main story progresses via a series of simple objectives, and these only ever take the form of either 'get stat x to value y' or 'research/craft a weapon of type z', neither of which are timed or can otherwise be failed, nor is it possible to even lose progress towards these goals.”
“I had a feeling like 80% of the text was filler and the same story could have been achieved through less - especially because the story is basically irrelevant and linear.”
“The background story is shallow and childish, as if the stupid jokes and the cute dialogues were supposed to be enough to cover that angle.”
- grinding67 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight a pervasive sense of tedium and repetitiveness associated with grinding in the game, particularly when pursuing achievements or progressing through levels. While some players appreciate the grindy nature as part of the management sim experience, many find it excessively monotonous and lacking in meaningful engagement, leading to frustration and boredom as the game progresses. Overall, the grinding mechanics are seen as a significant design flaw that detracts from the enjoyment of the game.
“But it just feels tedious and grindy—the gameplay loop will remain mostly the same even as complexity is added and the loop itself doesn't have enough substance for me.”
“Overall, it's generally a good concept with some nice qualities, but some very bad design flaws on the part of the devs, which makes it horrifically grindy and monotonous, which makes you not only bored, but hating it.”
“It's just grinding for the sake of grinding, and gets super boring.”
- graphics61 mentions
- 59 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their cute, cartoonish style and vibrant aesthetics, which complement the humorous writing and overall lighthearted atmosphere. Many reviewers appreciate the unique artwork and charming animations, noting that the visuals enhance the gameplay experience, even if the gameplay itself can be repetitive. Overall, the graphics are considered a standout feature, contributing to the game's appeal as a fun and relaxing time-killer.
“The art style is amazing to look at and humors you the whole way through the experience.”
“The graphics are cute and there is an unimaginable amount of joy watching them swing their potato arms in the air.”
“The artwork is super cute and it's silly which I love, but it just didn't feel exciting or fun.”
“Dumb graphics and dialogues.”
“The game is a glorified iOS game with absolutely no depth, or thought, outside of making a cutesy art style and hackneyed humor in an attempt to grab as much cash as possible.”
“If you don't mind older graphics, better go for something like Recettear.”
- music44 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its catchy and motivating qualities that enhance the overall experience. However, some find it repetitive and suggest that a greater variety of tracks would improve the gameplay. Overall, the soundtrack is often described as fitting well with the game's charming art style and humorous references, contributing to a relaxing atmosphere despite occasional annoyance from its looping nature.
“I highly recommend this game if you want to just craft and sell stuff while watching something or listening to music; it's a good way of relaxing and taking a break, unlike most games I play.”
“The music is amazing, it's quite funny and has great references.”
“The art, music, writing, and UI all complement each other perfectly to create a lighthearted but deep economic management game.”
“Annoying loop music with generic effects.”
“The music can get very repetitive though so I turn it off.”
“For a game that’s a bit more laid back you think they would have more emphasis on the music; it wasn't all that catchy.”
- replayability11 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed, with many players noting limited value after the initial playthrough. While some appreciate the grinding and progression elements, others find the experience becomes repetitive quickly, with little incentive to replay. A few mention that additional DLC can enhance replayability, but many agree that the game is best enjoyed once.
“Good replay value.”
“But it has great progression, good content, some replayability, and a lot of referential humor that fits in tone and presentation.”
“Moderate replayability.”
“However, it doesn't have a lot of replay value.”
“It's an okay game; it was an interesting concept with not much replayability and gets boring quickly.”
“I don't think there's much replayability, other than maybe playing the game over again to see how much quicker you can finish it the second time, and with an estimated 5 hours of gameplay, it's just not worth it.”
- monetization7 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 71 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of "Holy Potatoes" has been criticized for feeling like a repurposed free-to-play mobile game, lacking in-app purchases but still exhibiting elements typical of such games, like item shops and ads. While it avoids the pitfalls of aggressive mobile monetization, players express a desire for a more enjoyable, unencumbered gaming experience without forced limitations. Overall, it is seen as a competent title that sidesteps the worst excesses of cash grabs, though it still leaves some players wanting more.
“Ultimately, what Holy Potatoes! feels like is a game that was very much intended to be a free-to-play/mobile game with in-app purchases, but has simply removed the in-app purchases and sold itself as a commercial title.”
“Ultimately, what Holy Potatoes feels like is a game that was very much intended to be a free-to-play/mobile game with in-app purchases, but has simply removed the in-app purchases and sold itself as a commercial title.”
“Well, if you look at those 'freemium' games on mobile phones, they have limits and force you to watch ads or pay crazy microtransactions, but you don't have to 'pay' your workers to go on vacation, and all that nonsense (just let me enjoy the game at my own pace!).”
“The advertising text also promises a lot more diversity than there actually is in the game.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its effective optimization, running smoothly even on low-end laptops and PCs. It features simple optimization mechanics and upgrades, though it lacks customization options for the shop. Overall, it serves as an enjoyable, light-hearted experience with a nostalgic nod to 2010s pop culture.
“I liked it because it is very much of its moment - plenty of goofy memetic references to 2010s pop culture, phone game aesthetics, and simple optimization problems make it a great zone-out game.”
“Performance is great even on low-end laptops and PCs.”
“You can buy station upgrades and decorations that improve performance, but there is no customization of your shop or decorating feature.”
“It's just a silly little optimization game.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been reported to have significant stability issues, with users experiencing frequent bugs and glitches. While players enjoy the gameplay, they recommend saving often due to the unreliable save function.
“The game is good but buggy.”
“This game is incredibly buggy on my system.”
“I truly enjoy the game, but the save function is horribly buggy.”
- atmosphere3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a playful and charming aesthetic, enhanced by a cute art style and clever references to other games. Players appreciate the fun characters and engaging game mechanics, contributing to an overall enjoyable experience.
“The art style and overall atmosphere of the game is very cute and charming, which is enhanced by tons of clever nods to other games.”
“Good game, with a slight difficulty curve, fun characters, and a playful atmosphere.”
“Nice game mechanics and a good atmosphere.”
- character development3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Character development is praised for its engaging designs and thoughtful UI, which enhance the overall gaming experience and encourage players to explore different character options in future games.
“Character designs are fun, too.”
“This made me want to play new games later where I could try the other character development options.”
“Love the character designs and the UI; they definitely reflect the amount of thought and work that went into this game.”
