Steam's SimFest "Hobby Edition" sale is underway
Discounts on jobs
I've got at least two jobs - three if you count parenting, four if you count eating as many salted cameral brownies as I can - but I still love games about jobs. That's what the latest Steam sale is about. The SimFest: Hobby Edition sale features "games that attempt to simulate a hobby or job", whether that's running a zoo, driving a truck, or making magic potions.
Among the most interesting deals are: American Truck Simulator at 75% off (£3.74/€5), Two Point Hospital likewise 75% off (£6.24/€8.74) and Potion Craft for 20% off (£9.11/€10). There are dozens of others, however.
Of those three, Potion Craft is maybe the most interesting just because it's newer. When writing about it six months ago, Alice B said it was better than meditation. It's a game where crunch up ingredients to make potions to serve to adventurers.
I used to do loads of yoga, and I can tell you that an hour grinding up a delicate yellow blossom or a big clumb of green mushrooms gives me a much greater feeling of wellness than doing the dolphin pose. All with the added benefit that my abdomen doesn't burn aftwards. The animation is just so fun. First you tip the heap of ingredients into the mortar, and then you start mashing the pestle into them, and the flowers or mushrooms gradually lose structural integrity as the bottom of the bowl fills up with mush. And little bits fly everywhere, too. It's nice and messy and tactile. I love it.
If you think games about jobs are dull, keep in mind that space physics builder Space Engineers is in here among the likes of Powerwash Simulator. A job for everyone.