Alchemy Classic HD is a game that is somewhat difficult to explain because it’s certainly not your typical brain teaser and neither is it your typical puzzle. What it is however, is one of those games that will leave you addicted, with little battery left and an overwhelming desire to play more. This is thanks the game’s incredible leanings on curiosity, it killed the cat and now it’s going to make you this game for hours on end every time that you can.
Description: Alchemy Classic HD is a game that relies on the age-old puzzle genre with a brilliant twist – there’s no scoring and there’s no aim to the game, you just keep on going. The game focusses on the fact that everything in the life is formed from the four elements of earth, fire, wind and water. The game challenges you to combine these elements together in order to create the world! Of course, you’re probably thinking that the idea everything is formed from these simple elements is silly but, after all, everything we make is a product of the earth and really just building blocks put together throughout the centuries.
How It Works: As soon as you install the game from the Play Store you’re free to get going and have it! There’s a helpful quick start guide that tells you everything you need to know – which you can access from the main menu whenever you like. After this, you’re left to it and you can start combining elements to create more and more. When you first the game you have access to the four elements – earth, fire, wind and water but, soon after that you’ll begin to populate with more and more blocks.
In order to get more of these blocks requires you to drag and drop blocks from the bar on the left and onto the main screen, then simply place another block on top of another in order to create a new block. There’s no wrong answer here but, you’ll only gain new elements if you get a combination right. Once you’ve unlocked a new block, it’s yours forever and can be accessed from the same bar on the left.
Where the game excels is putting your creativity in control here, you can either keep a clean board or you can do what I did which is to have a messy board with all the elements out in order to trigger my brain.
If you’re feeling stuck however, Alchemy Classic HD will extend a helping hand. Not only are the elements that you’ve not unlocked names for you to see what’s out there but you can then cash in “hint points” in order to tell you the recipe. The more blocks you create, the more blocks you can create!
Opinion: I’ll admit that I was a little skeptical when I first began playing the game however, once I was hooked, there was no going back. The gameplay of Alchemy Classic HD is so addictive that I didn’t just lose track of time, I forgot to look at the clock altogether. I’ve always thought myself both a creative person and someone that knew a thing or two about science and this is what led me to the unlocking of a great many elements in the beginning but, even I soon hit the wall and began cashing in hint points left, right and center.
It’s not often I can say that I enjoyed a mobile game more than I have some recent console games but, I can honestly say that I found this to be so different and so unique that for once, I’d rather play this than play Minecraft on my Xbox. It’s that good a game.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – The app is simple and quick to get playing and there’s no lag when creating new elements.
- Features (5/5) – You couldn’t say that Alchemy Classic HD has a large feature base but, what it does have is so fresh and addictive I can’t see why it would need more.
- Theme (4/5) – There’s a nice look to the game and the idea of being able to control how you lay out the main board is a brilliant idea.
- Overall (5/5) – Alchemy Classic HD is one of those games that I’d be happy to recommend to anyone I know and that certainly doesn’t happen often.
Pros
- Unique gameplay becomes addictive after a few minutes of play.
- It’s perfect for a long spell at home or bite-sized gameplay out and about.
- The more time you spend playing it, the more time you’ll think about combinations.
- Not only is Alchemy Classic HD addictive but, it also feels rewarding, which is hard to come by these days.
Cons
- Sometimes placing pieces on the board is a little slow.
- Music would be nice but, you can always make your own “Alchemist’s Playlist”
Overall: It’s not at all often that I come across games that I’d be willing to recommend to all my smartphone touting friends as there’s a great many of them that don’t play games but, I’m sure this is less of a gimmick and more of a strong puzzle title with a lot of freedom. For a game with such a seemingly simple goal, there’s so much here that will keep you busy, from creating Moss and Swamps to building housing and Aeroplanes, you’ll never bored when playing this. Never.
You can get Alchemy Classic HD here in the Play Store.