Review of Alchemist
When I opened the box of Alchemist (Mayfair Games, 2007 – Carlo A. Rossi), I was greeted with the site of 160 wooden cubes, amongst other components. The instructions listed the names of these cubes as ingredient parts (gray bird legs, blue mushrooms, green dragon blood, orange troll eyes, and yellow spiders), and some creepy looking hands are printed on the game board; but I still had a sneaking suspicion that this would be another “mechanics first – theme somewhere else” style. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially when I had heard that the game was somewhat unique in style.
After playing it, I can certainly attest to the fact that the game feels like few others that I have played, and it’s unique and rather simple. I simply didn’t like it, however, as I felt that the mechanics sounded incredibly more interesting on paper than they did in practice. The game starts out with a decent number of options; but after a few turns, they seem to stagnate, giving a player fewer choices and occasionally putting someone in the annoying position of helping another player to get a few scraps for themselves. Alchemist has an interesting beginning and middle, while the end tends to go much slower. The game was unanimously panned in my group, as we found it fairly boring.
Each player is an “Adept”, fighting to be the “Supreme Adept” (woohoo!) in the world of Alchemy. Each player receives a player shield, a school ingredient card (matching one of the five colors), five “seal” stones in their color, and twelve random ingredient cubes drawn from a bag. Each player places a marker on a scoring track, and piles of “50” and “100” chips are placed near the board, along with ten potion value tiles (numbered “1” through “10”) and piles of ingredients sorted by color. The number of ingredients in the bag and in “reserve” (next to the board) is determined by the number of players (2 through 5). One player is chosen to go first (the person who most recently used a recipe, etc.)
On a players turn, they may take one of three actions. First, they may either take one ingredient of their choice from the reserve or two random ingredients from the bag, if any remain. Otherwise, they may either create or copy a potion. On the board are ten cauldrons, showing the ten different combinations of the five colors. A player picks an empty one, when creating, and plays one to five ingredients to create a new recipe. They may not use one of the two colors shown on the cauldron, may not use more than two cubes of the same color, and may not create an identical recipe to one already on another cauldron. The player then picks one of the remaining values on the side and places it on the recipe as well as one of their seal discs. They receive the amount of points equal to the value, as well as one ingredient of each of the two colors on the potion. Players may only create a maximum of five potions during the game. A player may copy a potion that another player created (not one that they have created), by playing the correct ingredients - discarding them from the game, with the exception of one - which goes to the potion designer. They also score the points for the potion and take the two ingredients it creates.
After taking an action, play passes to the next player, and so on. This continues until there are two or fewer types of ingredients left in the reserve. The round finishes, and then players reveal their stashes. They receive one point for every two cubes, then place all ingredients from behind their shields into the reserves. The player with the least ingredients in their school remaining scores bonus points (depending on the number of players), then the second least, etc. The player with the most points is declared the winner!
Some comments on the game...
1.) Components: First of all, the box is sharp looking - if a little dark, and combined with the board, brings a gloomy atmosphere to the game (that hand just creeps me out!) The components are fine, with wooden cubes (shocking!) and wooden discs. Everything is easy to maneuver around, and the game includes some "50" and "100" markers for when you pass the scoring track (you will!) As for the atmosphere and theme - well, it's a nice attempt, and I can't say it adds anything to game play.
2.) Rules: The game is only four pages of rules, which are clearly explained with color illustrations. I missed a small reference to a major rule in our first game, because the examples weren’t as clear as they might have been; but later games were easier to understand. Really, the game is quite simple to explain, although new people will have a bit of trouble understanding how the game ties together.
3.) Tactics: “I have no idea what to do” is a comment I often hear from players, and it certainly is warranted. It’s confusing to know exactly what kind of recipe to create, which potion to make, and which value to give it. These kinds of things come from practice, and playing the game more than once. After several playings, I still am not sure what the best strategy is. Is it okay to make an easy potion with a high value? What ingredients should you use? These aren’t awfully hard decisions, but it is possible that a player will feel like they are in deep water – not knowing which way to swing.
4.) Mistakes: The rules note that a player cannot use potion recipes that they create, as creating many potions limits the number of potions a player may score with later. This is a huge deal and probably should be highlighted and bolded. Many new players see an easy way to make points here, but you can really stifle your progress if there aren’t enough other potions to create from other players (this is especially dangerous in a two-player game.) Players can also set up a nice production loop for other players if they aren’t careful – where the potions produce the ingredients necessary to make other lucrative potions, etc. This can be devastating, and a player can only sit there and watch helplessly. Players must be careful not to doom themselves – about two-thirds into the game they’ll notice, but it will be too late.
5.) Game play: At the beginning of the game, players have a neat amount of choices – dive into the bag for random resources (this doesn’t last very long, and I’m surprised at how few cubes are actually in the bag), start new potions or set themselves up for a nice “factory” action. However, there comes a point, when about eight or nine of the potions are created, where the game suddenly reaches a downhill feel. Most games get more exciting as they go along, this one kind of dies down towards the end, something I’m really not fond of.
6.) Secret School: You know, for as much of a deal as this is – it often dictates how people create their potions, etc. – it just doesn’t really pay out in the end. Some points are scored, but even the top amount of points (“12” in a four or five player game) isn’t really that much (especially when second place gets “8” or “9”). I’ve yet to see it affect a game – in fact I’ve yet to see a game in which there was any doubt after the game was over about who had won.
7.) Fun Factor: I’ve written a lot of negative problems I’ve had with the game, and these really overpower the interesting and unique mechanics. I want a game that has at least a little tension about it, and this one seems fairly settled much before the game is over. It’s absolutely no fun when you know you are losing and can’t do anything about it. After multiple plays, a gamer can learn to do the game well; but I don’t think most people will be interested enough to care at that point.
The game is short, around forty-five minutes, so it’s not excruciating to play; and I think there are a few who will find enjoyment from the interesting, abstract mechanics. But the harshness on mistakes by newcomers, the lack of options near the end, and the lack of theme just push me towards not being overly enthusiastic about playing it again. I’m going to have to pass on a recommendation for Alchemist. No gold here!
Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.thedicetower.com
After playing it, I can certainly attest to the fact that the game feels like few others that I have played, and it’s unique and rather simple. I simply didn’t like it, however, as I felt that the mechanics sounded incredibly more interesting on paper than they did in practice. The game starts out with a decent number of options; but after a few turns, they seem to stagnate, giving a player fewer choices and occasionally putting someone in the annoying position of helping another player to get a few scraps for themselves. Alchemist has an interesting beginning and middle, while the end tends to go much slower. The game was unanimously panned in my group, as we found it fairly boring.
Each player is an “Adept”, fighting to be the “Supreme Adept” (woohoo!) in the world of Alchemy. Each player receives a player shield, a school ingredient card (matching one of the five colors), five “seal” stones in their color, and twelve random ingredient cubes drawn from a bag. Each player places a marker on a scoring track, and piles of “50” and “100” chips are placed near the board, along with ten potion value tiles (numbered “1” through “10”) and piles of ingredients sorted by color. The number of ingredients in the bag and in “reserve” (next to the board) is determined by the number of players (2 through 5). One player is chosen to go first (the person who most recently used a recipe, etc.)
On a players turn, they may take one of three actions. First, they may either take one ingredient of their choice from the reserve or two random ingredients from the bag, if any remain. Otherwise, they may either create or copy a potion. On the board are ten cauldrons, showing the ten different combinations of the five colors. A player picks an empty one, when creating, and plays one to five ingredients to create a new recipe. They may not use one of the two colors shown on the cauldron, may not use more than two cubes of the same color, and may not create an identical recipe to one already on another cauldron. The player then picks one of the remaining values on the side and places it on the recipe as well as one of their seal discs. They receive the amount of points equal to the value, as well as one ingredient of each of the two colors on the potion. Players may only create a maximum of five potions during the game. A player may copy a potion that another player created (not one that they have created), by playing the correct ingredients - discarding them from the game, with the exception of one - which goes to the potion designer. They also score the points for the potion and take the two ingredients it creates.
After taking an action, play passes to the next player, and so on. This continues until there are two or fewer types of ingredients left in the reserve. The round finishes, and then players reveal their stashes. They receive one point for every two cubes, then place all ingredients from behind their shields into the reserves. The player with the least ingredients in their school remaining scores bonus points (depending on the number of players), then the second least, etc. The player with the most points is declared the winner!
Some comments on the game...
1.) Components: First of all, the box is sharp looking - if a little dark, and combined with the board, brings a gloomy atmosphere to the game (that hand just creeps me out!) The components are fine, with wooden cubes (shocking!) and wooden discs. Everything is easy to maneuver around, and the game includes some "50" and "100" markers for when you pass the scoring track (you will!) As for the atmosphere and theme - well, it's a nice attempt, and I can't say it adds anything to game play.
2.) Rules: The game is only four pages of rules, which are clearly explained with color illustrations. I missed a small reference to a major rule in our first game, because the examples weren’t as clear as they might have been; but later games were easier to understand. Really, the game is quite simple to explain, although new people will have a bit of trouble understanding how the game ties together.
3.) Tactics: “I have no idea what to do” is a comment I often hear from players, and it certainly is warranted. It’s confusing to know exactly what kind of recipe to create, which potion to make, and which value to give it. These kinds of things come from practice, and playing the game more than once. After several playings, I still am not sure what the best strategy is. Is it okay to make an easy potion with a high value? What ingredients should you use? These aren’t awfully hard decisions, but it is possible that a player will feel like they are in deep water – not knowing which way to swing.
4.) Mistakes: The rules note that a player cannot use potion recipes that they create, as creating many potions limits the number of potions a player may score with later. This is a huge deal and probably should be highlighted and bolded. Many new players see an easy way to make points here, but you can really stifle your progress if there aren’t enough other potions to create from other players (this is especially dangerous in a two-player game.) Players can also set up a nice production loop for other players if they aren’t careful – where the potions produce the ingredients necessary to make other lucrative potions, etc. This can be devastating, and a player can only sit there and watch helplessly. Players must be careful not to doom themselves – about two-thirds into the game they’ll notice, but it will be too late.
5.) Game play: At the beginning of the game, players have a neat amount of choices – dive into the bag for random resources (this doesn’t last very long, and I’m surprised at how few cubes are actually in the bag), start new potions or set themselves up for a nice “factory” action. However, there comes a point, when about eight or nine of the potions are created, where the game suddenly reaches a downhill feel. Most games get more exciting as they go along, this one kind of dies down towards the end, something I’m really not fond of.
6.) Secret School: You know, for as much of a deal as this is – it often dictates how people create their potions, etc. – it just doesn’t really pay out in the end. Some points are scored, but even the top amount of points (“12” in a four or five player game) isn’t really that much (especially when second place gets “8” or “9”). I’ve yet to see it affect a game – in fact I’ve yet to see a game in which there was any doubt after the game was over about who had won.
7.) Fun Factor: I’ve written a lot of negative problems I’ve had with the game, and these really overpower the interesting and unique mechanics. I want a game that has at least a little tension about it, and this one seems fairly settled much before the game is over. It’s absolutely no fun when you know you are losing and can’t do anything about it. After multiple plays, a gamer can learn to do the game well; but I don’t think most people will be interested enough to care at that point.
The game is short, around forty-five minutes, so it’s not excruciating to play; and I think there are a few who will find enjoyment from the interesting, abstract mechanics. But the harshness on mistakes by newcomers, the lack of options near the end, and the lack of theme just push me towards not being overly enthusiastic about playing it again. I’m going to have to pass on a recommendation for Alchemist. No gold here!
Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.thedicetower.com
