Alchemist
2-5
10+
50
Publisher Video
Alchemist White Glove Demo
7:20
It is the Contest of the Alchemists! The most talented Adepts of the mystical arts come from around the world to compete. They fill their cauldrons with exotic and rare ingredients, all creating new potions in the quest for fame and honor. In addition to demonstrating their talents by replicating their fellow competitors' potions, each has a secret agenda: to promote the use of the component their school of magic prizes most highly! The person who brings the most fame to his or her school-and for themselves-will win the title of Supreme Adept.
images © Mayfair Games
User Reviews (1)
Add a Review for "Alchemist"
You must be logged in to add a review.
Alchemist is a light game of making & copying recipes by placing different colored cubes in 10 available cauldrons, whereby players are acting as alchemists in pursuit of becoming the master alchemist by promoting his special ingredient; i.e. cube color. Each player has a secret ingredient, i.e. color.
It’s pretty straight forward. Score points by either creating or copying a recipe. The first to create a recipe locks down that cauldron and places a point value from a limited set of markers. The creating player gets a onetime value that he designates for his recipe. Other players may now copy that recipe as many times as they want for the prescribed point value. The creating player may not copy his own recipe. There is a limited number of cubes and these act as the internal timer of the game.
The end game has a couple of charts to look up final point bonuses for the amount of colored cubes used. Add up totals and viola, winner. The cauldrons have a restricted color combo and quantity, so the recipe combos per color will be symmetric in the game. What a shame. The only real strategy is what point value to give the recipe you are creating and what ingredient to use. Use you ingredient and a high value, then other players get the high copy points, but do you up your color. Go too low and no wants to copy it and so don’t use your color. So, the intent is to kind of bluff or lure other players into using your color, but because of the symmetry and visual knowledge of color quantities, its pretty easy to deduce who is promoting what color. The game is a little on autopilot, but for its weight its ok.
Set-up: A little annoying since you have to pick through a bunch of small cubes depending on the number of players.
Depth of strategy: 3/10
Brain Burner: 2/10
Player Interaction: 2/10
Luck & Randomness: 2/10
Eurostyle: Low
Ameritrash: low
Game length: 15-20 min per player
Power gamer affinity: low
Aid gamer affinity: low
Casual affinity: high
Social affinity: medium
Family affinity: medium