Like a diabolical shopkeeper awaiting his first victim—sorry—customer of the day, I've been eagerly anticipating the release of Strange Antiquities since it was announced last year. The follow-up to 2022's Strange Horticulture lets players get their Needful Things on, selling eldritch antiques to an array of weird townsfolk. And it turns out the Lake District's most accused curiosity shop is opening its doors sooner than I expected, as Strange Antiquities launches next month.
For the uninitiated, Strange Horticulture saw players pairing plants with paying punters in a dark, faintly Lovecraftian story where your horticultural choices could result in murder or even cosmic Armageddon. A narrative puzzler with a dash of Papers Please, Chris Livingston called it "the best detective game I've played in years" in his Strange Horticulture review.
