In a bleak city where neon lights barely hold back darkness, your only refuge is a tiny apothecary… and it’s yours to run. Announced at the Frosty Games Fest 2025 showcase, Apothecary of City X is the debut title from Queensland-based Lemon Jolly Games, arriving in Early Access on Steam November 2025.
At first glance, it’s a slow-burn simulation game about mixing herbs and diagnosing strange conditions. What you may discover is a narrative-rich strategy experience rooted in environmental anxiety, community care, and surviving in a post-climate collapse future.
Lead developer Anna Zou (best known for work on Hand of Fate and Hand of Fate 2) created Apothecary of City X as a personal outlet for her feelings about climate change.
Manage a small Chinese herbal shop nestled in the heart of a crumbling city. Every day, strange citizens arrive with stranger ailments. Some are funny, some are eerie, and all are mysterious. You’ll find rare ingredients and build custom decks with collectible retro cartridges, and use tactile, ASMR-friendly interfaces to brew up remedies. But not every encounter is peaceful. Some of the city’s inhabitants bring trouble.
Key features according to the developers include:
- A soothing, tactile UI experience inspired by ASMR and analog machines
- Strategic ingredient substitution and discovery mechanics
- Deckbuilding elements using retro game cartridges
- Unexpected twists as you navigate customers who are odd, charming, or flat-out dangerous
- A heartfelt story wrapped in neon wires and herbal steam.
Supported by Screen Queensland and Screen Australia, Lemon Jolly’s vision is about creating space to reflect, breathe, and connect. The game is being crafted by a small but mighty team: Anna Zou (Design, Code, Narrative), Tiffany Yue (Art), and Alex Prenzler (Sound, Music).
Apothecary of City X is planned to be released in Early Access on PC via Steam in November 2025.
