Brew Luck

Submission for the Pizza Jam 2026. Theme: "*Side Effects?*"

Please read below, as we didn't have much time to implement a tutorial in the game.

Backstory

Your first day at a potion shop is already going badly.

Customers walk in asking for strange brews, vague miracles, and suspiciously specific solutions. The problem is: you have no idea what you're doing. The ingredient manual is cryptic, unreliable, and just helpful enough to give you confidence right before everything goes wrong.

So you do what any underqualified potion clerk would do: mix things together, hand them over, and hope for the best.

Sometimes the potion works.

Sometimes it sort of works.

Sometimes it becomes tomorrow's headline.

About the Game

Brew Luck is a small casual potion-mixing game about guessing what people want, interpreting unclear ingredient descriptions, and dealing with the side effects of your decisions.

Each customer asks for a potion indirectly. You then choose two ingredients and one activator, deliver the brew, and move on to the next client. At the end of the day, a news report reveals what your potions actually did.

This jam version focuses on the core concept: uncertain choices, unpredictable outcomes, and chaotic consequences.

The broader idea was to include progression systems, like getting fired after too many failures or unlocking more ingredients and more advanced potion recipes over time. Those features were planned but not implemented for this version, so the experience currently lasts for a single workday and ends after the evening news recap.

Note: the game ends abruptly when the reporter has nothing else to say.

How to Play

Make the Potion

To create a potion, drag and drop 2 ingredients and 1 activator in the cauldron.

That's it. No more, no less.

If you're not happy with the potion you made, you can throw it away by dropping it in the trash bin on the right. Otherwise, to deliver it to the customer, just drop it in the orange delivery area, and then hand it to the customer.

Listen to the Customer

Customers may tell you exactly which effect they want. They describe a problem, a desire, or a situation they want solved. Your job is to read between the lines and figure out what kind of potion they are really asking for.

Check the Book

Press ESC to open the ingredient book.

Inside, you'll find descriptions of each ingredient, but they are intentionally unclear. They hint at what an ingredient might do, without ever giving you a direct answer.

The book helps, but not enough to feel safe.

Take the Risk

You choose the ingredients with incomplete information.

There is no perfect certainty, only interpretation. Every potion is a gamble, and every customer is a chance to either solve a problem or make it dramatically worse.

See the Consequences

At the end of the day, the local news reporter recaps the events caused by your potions.

This is where you find out:

• whether the potion worked
• whether it only partially matched the request
• or whether the side effects completely took over

What the Game Is Really About

This is not a game about mastering recipes.

It is a game about making uncertain decisions, misreading people's intentions, and watching the consequences unfold in public.

You are not crafting perfect potions.

You are improvising with dangerous ingredients and hoping the fallout is manageable.

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Credits and References

engeda - Art

rota99 - Programming

Sound Effects

Cauldron cauldron bubbling 1 by LazyChillZone
Bell Hotel bell by MagiaZ
Breaking news Breaking News Intro Logo by BreakzStudios

Font

Texts Vividly by Tata
Book Texts Yuji Mai by Kinuta Font Factory

Characters

Image by pikisuperstar on Freepik Cartoon woman character template

Plants & Mushrooms

Image by freepik Hand drawn houseplant collection
Image by macrovector on Freepik Mushrooms illustration for menus and recipes. Edible and poisonous food

Animals & Creatures

Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik Vintage hand drawn cat collection
Image by pikisuperstar on Freepik Watercolor wild animals collection

Potions & Bottles

Image by upklyak on Freepik Magic potion bottles glass jars with elixir
Image by upklyak on Freepik Bottles with magic potion alchemy elixir
Image by gstudioimagen1 on Freepik Four magical occult icons
Image by macrovector on Freepik Set trasparente di bottiglie di vetro realistico
Image by brgfx on Freepik Illustrazione delle quattro bottiglie di vetro su uno sfondo bianco
Image by freepik Bottiglie di bevande analcoliche
Image by juicy_fish on Freepik Shot glass

Candles

Image by freepik Flat scented candle pack

Gummies

Image by freepik Stile disegnato colorato collezione di caramelle in mano

Feathers

Image by macrovector on Freepik Vector colored feathers set. Bird feathers painted in colorful patterns

Books

Image by gstudioimagen1 on Freepik Alchemy book cartoon
Image by jemastock on Freepik Open red book library icon

Background

Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik Silhouette skyline illustration

Materials & Textures

Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik Blank brown paper design
Image by kjpargeter on Freepik Wood planks texture background parquet flooring
Image by kjpargeter on Freepik Gray background with wood texture

Wall Texture

Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik Beige concrete wall