Potionomics is the first major outing from indie developer Voracious Games, and its six-year development cycle more than shows. With excellent modeling, superb animation work, and a fun potion-crafting gameplay experience, it's well worth experiencing. There's just one problem, though: the game, quite frankly, is pretty hard.

Related: Best Roguelike Card Games

If you don't know what you're getting into, one wrong move can potentially spell disaster and set you back by days of progress. Knowing the dos and don'ts will give you a huge leg up in crafting the best, most high-quality potions, so this list includes tips to help you step up your game.

9 Plan Ahead

The map screen in Potionomics.

Time spent planning is never wasted, and that applies more than anywhere in Potionomics. Your time is limited on a day-to-day basis, and you only have so many days to craft the award-winning potions needed to win competitions. Wasting too much of that time can spell disaster.

As such, planning ahead and thinking about what you're going to do is essential. Some actions take up your precious time, but others don't. It's always good to have potions brewing, for example, since it doesn't consume time, and you can do other things while waiting. Remember that while going out on the town costs time, moving between different characters doesn't.

8 Save Often

The save menu in Potionomics.

Potionomics offers you a generous number of save slots, on top of an autosave at the start of every day. You should remember to not only save often, but try to save in different slots, to give yourself "reset" points if you feel you've mismanaged your time recently.

You don't need to save scum to beat Potionomics by any means, but having the ability to undo your mistakes is a huge boon. It's all too easy to make a minor mistake and realize you want to take it back, but have no saves ready to do so. Try to make a habit out of saving often.

7 Spend Money To Make Money

Quinn's shop in Potionomics.

As tempting as it is to hoard your gold like a potion-crafting dragon, there's really no reason to. Remember, you'll be paying off your debt with the money you win from competitions, not the gold from your day-to-day work. As such, you should be spending it, not hoarding it.

Related: Indie Games With the Best Replay Value

Unless you're saving for a big purchase, you should make sure to spend as much of your money as you possibly can. Don't blow it on meaningless purchases, but instead think about what ingredients and upgrades for your shop you can spend at any given time. Having less than 100 gold on hand might sound risky, but it's worth it.

6 Prioritize Upgrades

Saffron's upgrade menu in Potionomics.

When spending your hard-earned money, you should ideally be prioritizing upgrades from Muktuk and Saffron. Muktuk will allow you to purchase better cauldrons for potion-crafting and shelves for selling them, while Saffron will give you more space in your shop for cauldrons and shelves.

These upgrades are absolutely essential as you move into the later stages of the game. More and better cauldrons allows you to make more potions at once, and better ones at that. More shelves, meanwhile, lets you sell more of your potions at once to make more money. Be sure to prioritize these upgrades whenever possible.

5 Send Out Your Adventurers

Mint's loot screen in Potionomics.

Over the course of the game, you'll unlock a number of adventurers that you can send out to battle monsters and bring back the ingredients they find. You can also give them potions to improve their odds of success, and give them a number of buffs.

These adventurers are essential to your success, as they're your primary way of acquiring new ingredients. Try to always have a stock of health and mana potions on hand to aid them in their quests. Remember, sending them out doesn't cost time, so there's hardly any reason not to do it.

4 Expand Quinn's Shop

The expansion screen for Quinn's shop in Potionomics.

Once you've gotten new ingredients from your adventurers, your number one priority should be giving them to Quinn. Quinn will consume the ingredients you give them, but in exchange, those ingredients will become permanently available in their shop starting the next day.

As expensive as buying ingredients can be, it's always a superior option to relying on getting them from monster drops. Quinn's shop will provide you with an infinite supply of any ingredient without having to wait, so make sure you bring them every new ingredient you get as soon as possible.

3 Improve Your Relationships

A rank up scene with Luna in Potionomics.

As you interact with your friends and allies in Potionomics, you'll be able to rank up your relationship. Ranking up will either provide you with new cards for the bartering segment, or a discount on their services. Not to mention, you'll get treated to charming dating sim-esque visual novel segments.

Related: Best Dating Sims That Are Available For Free

Ranking up isn't always an option, as it costs a time slot, but it's one you should consider whenever possible. The cards you get from your friends will be a huge boon when selling your portions, and since you'll be using their services so much, the discounts will pay off in the long term.

2 Give Out Gifts

Giving a gift to Luna in Potionomics.

When it comes to improving your relationships, there are few better options than giving out gifts. Hanging out with your friends costs time, but giving out gifts costs none, instead taking one of your ingredients. That's a small price to pay for an increase to your relationships.

Since moving between your friends and giving them gifts doesn't cost any time, you can give each of your allies a gift every single time you head out. You can only do this once per day, but it's well worth the time. Every friend also has a preferred ingredient, so try to figure that out while you're handing out gifts.

1 Think About Competition Potions

The brewing screen in Potionomics.

Whether you're buying ingredients from Quinn, forging a new cauldron with Muktuk, or brewing potions directly, there should be one thing on your mind. Competition potions are how you win the game, and you'll need three of them every week, so get crafting.

The game will give you a recommendation for how strong your potions should be. Don't worry if they're a little below the cut; you'll get to haggle to increase the price at the competition proper. Still, make sure they're always on your mind, as not having strong enough potions will lead right to a game over.

Next - The Best Story-Driven Video Games