''Potpourrii'' is a

WiiWare WiiWare was a service that allowed Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications could only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii S ...

puzzle A puzzle is a game, Problem solving, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together (Disentanglement puzzle, or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at th ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by Dutch studio Abstraction Games. It was released in North America on September 15, 2008, and in Europe on October 10, 2008.

Gameplay

''Potpourrii'' is played similar to the games ''

Puzz Loop ''Puzz Loop'' is an arcade tile-matching puzzle game developed by Mitchell Corporation and released in 1998 for Japan and North America and 1999 for Europe. It was later ported to the Game Boy Color, PlayStation and Samsung Nuon DVD players under ...

'' and ''

Puzzle Bobble internationally known as ''Bust-a-Move'', is a 1994 tile-matching puzzle arcade game developed and published by Taito. It is based on the 1986 arcade game ''Bubble Bobble'', featuring characters and themes from that game. Its characteristically ...

''. The plot of the game revolves around a group of

gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

s repairing their magical forest after a chaotic rampage by an evil

warlock A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft. Etymology and terminology The most commonly accepted etymology derives ''warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicatio ...

frees all the forest spirits. The object of the game is for the player to contain these spirits by matching three or more spirits of the same type in order to make them disappear.Abstraction Games Interview - Potpourrii
/ref> Players shoot spirits from a cannon on a track that surrounds a swirling whirlpool (the "potpourii") where the spirits are suspended, with each quadrant of the play area corresponding to a different

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

and the different types of spirits players can shoot. The twist is that instead of simply matching the required number of spirits, the player must add to the cluster a different type of spirit that reacts to them and allows the cluster to disappear.

Reception

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

gave the game 5/10, noting that the "sluggish, sloppy controls" and the lack of a tutorial hurt the game, ultimately claiming ''Potpourrii'' is "far too complicated for its own good". However, they did have praise for its "mellow and happy" audio and graphics, despite the latter's muddled and confusing interface.IGN: Potpourrii Review
/ref> WiiWare World also gave it 5/10, praising its "crisp visuals, captivating art style and cutesy music" yet also disappointed by its "extremely sluggish" gameplay and frustrating control. They also echoed the sentiment about the lack of a tutorial, feeling the game is "a complex and confusing setup for newcomers and the initial difficulty is likely to alienate many gamers". Gaming Target gave the puzzler a 6.7/10 for its original twist on the puzzle genre but also bemoaned about the lack of a tutorial.Gaming Target's Potpourrii Review
/ref>

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site
2008 video games WiiWare games Wii-only games Puzzle video games Video games developed in the Netherlands Wii games