Indie developer Bad Viking has officially announced their next title is Strange Antiquities. It’s a return to Undermere, the setting of Bad Viking’s previous indie hit Strange Horticulture.

In Strange Antiquities, players will again run a shop of the occult. You’ll need to find and identify arcane objects to assist townsfolk. There will also be new puzzles to solve.

Strange Antiquities will be available on PC via Steam, where you can wishlist it now. At this time, there is currently no release date or window.

Publisher Iceberg Interactive did release a new teaser trailer today. Though it’s mostly cinematic and doesn’t reveal much, mysteries always benefit from keeping things under wraps.

Strange Horticulture was a surprise hit among critics and fans alike. It was praised for its atmosphere, mechanics, and more. It launched in 2022 and still maintains Overwhelmingly Positive ratings on Steam.

As seen in the new teaser, the developers wisely retained the cozy, rustic charm of Horticulture’s art design for Antiquities. There’s a very unique comfort in Horticulture’s vintage setting and patient gameplay.

The creative mysteries and puzzles definitely made the genre more accessible, which is often tricky for point-and-click games.

It’s still unclear if Strange Antiquities will expand the gameplay itself. The Steam page mentions many familiar ideas from its predecessor. But its theme certainly seems broader this time around.

It would be nice to see the devs innovate some more, although the “if it isn’t broken” approach would likely deliver too. Since Horticulture was so delightfully story-driven, fans will surely be pleased to simply continue the narrative (and pet the cat again).

Either way, the devs have earned more than enough trust. And although today’s teaser is brief, it’s already very promising. It’s immersive and filled with the same kind of hypnotic, thematic music that fans expect.

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