Thaumaturgy. Have you heard of it? Strange Antiquities is all about it. It's to do with imbuing items with powers and using magic to change things, in a nutshell - then in the game, you sell them to local townsfolk. If you're not a fan of weird, wonderful, and likely cursed items, turn back now.
I first began my foray into the occult retail life in Strange Horticulture, Bad Viking's delightfully gloomy indie game from 2022, where you run a plant store in a Cumbrian town. The plants on offer are mostly poisonous and out of the ordinary, which sets the premise for both of the Strange games. While Antiquities is a sequel, they're not directly related, and you can play it separately if you want. Whichever you play first, there are mysterious goings-on that you need to help unravel through talking to the locals and collecting clues in both games.
Strange Antiquities reprises your role as part-detective, part-shopkeep. You're tasked with looking after the store for a few days while your boss goes off to do something super secret. The issue is that none of the odd items on the shelves are labeled, but you have a few books to help with symbology and gemstones. There's a half-filled handbook that vaguely tells you what each item is, too. What are these four different pointed metal things? What's that human heart-shaped curio? You have to find out.
It takes a bit of trial and error - say someone comes in and asks for a Hunter's Boon. What on earth is that? The entry in the handbook says it's 'primitive', made of a trophy from a slain beast. OK, sure, is it the big old tooth on a string? Maybe, but looks aren't everything, and some items can be deceiving.
You can utilize labels on your items, though I found that much easier on PC in Strange Horticulture than on Nintendo Switch for Antiquities. The game does have full touch-screen integration, though, which makes things a lot easier.
Something to note is that if you offer the wrong item, you can lose your sanity and have to throw dice around and scry yourself some back. It's easily done - take that from someone who's had to do it a few times, thanks to recommending completely the wrong cursed item too many times. Look, I forgot what a Voice of Cerrunos was, OK - sue me. Actually, don't do that; there isn't a monetary system in the game.
Sometimes you may even find that you do not have an item that matches the customer, handbook, and hints' descriptions. I recommend checking your desk at this point and all its hidden drawers. Each day when you close up shop, you get a tarot-like card, which is a hint on where to find a new item or two for your stock, and you also get letters from the postman that can point you in the right direction, which end up on said desk. Some of these are headscratchers, some are riddles, some are obvious maps. Going on a little jaunt to pick up some new stock is very helpful, even if it does involve going into a haunted house.
I really enjoy the game not only for the gothic and darker content, but for the setting - I visited the Lake District a lot when I was younger, and the town of Undermere, while fictional, is found where the real-life location of Windermere is. While I don't hope to find a creepy old plant or antique shop there, it's still fun to see recognizable places.
Strange Antiquities offers a sombre puzzler, which keeps your mind engaged with symbols, hidden meanings, and blood-stained items for a few hours. It's now nearly fall, so there's no better game to play during the drizzly, cooler nights. If you've not delved into the Strange universe, I implore you to do so. Antiquities plays beautifully on Switch 2 - especially with the touch screen - and is a wonderful little indie.
If this has you keen to try some more puzzle games, we have some recommendations. There are also some fantastic new Switch games coming up for fans of every genre, once you've finished solving queries in Undermere, of course.