Little Alchemists review —- boxing up magic

As a father, I want nothing more for my kids than for them to grow up and be into board games and to play with me forever. Maybe a few other things, but that’s definitely up there. The problem is all the waiting for them to be old enough to grasp the games in my collection. Beating my 3-year-old son at Star Wars: Rebellion is just too easy and my 6-year-old daughter is just starting to read and offers no competition at all at Dune Imperium or Root. What am I supposed to do? Little Alchemists may be the solution to all of my problems.

Jokes aside, Little Alchemists from CGE is a family-oriented version of the heavy Alchemists game that starts simple and introduces new mechanics and complexity over the course of multiple games and a kind of legacy(ish) campaign. My kids are still a bit too young for it, but fortunately for me, my niece is 9 years old and the perfect person to experience this game with and put it through its paces. 

Little Alchemists uses an app (free) that teaches you the game as you play, manages the backend randomization of potion making, and provides you with a fun story that is told throughout the campaign. At the time of this review, the narrative wasn’t quite finished but all the rules and gameplay implementation of the app was functional. 

The campaign starts with a very basic set of rules. You will be pairing ingredients together, scanning them with the app, and seeing which potion you made. Mark that potion on the board and eventually you will be able to start deducing which ingredients make which potion without actually having to make them. Completing a game awards key stickers that are placed on the locks of the next chapter’s box. Once you’ve “unlocked” the box, new mechanics, rules, and components will be introduced. I think a big part of the fun is that element of discovery so I won’t spoil anything here. 

At the beginning you will unlock new chapters pretty quick but about halfway through, the game will slow you down a bit and require more sessions before the next unlock. Of course, it’s your game and you can do whatever you want, but I think the slowdown is a good thing. At that point, the deduction aspect of the game is really ramping up and it’s great for the kids to have some repetition of each new thing and be able to master it before moving on to the next. If you feel ready earlier, go ahead and crack open the next chapter. If you open the next chapter and it feels overwhelming or too complex, put it away and keep playing the game you have already. 

The system works so well in teaching the rules and introducing concepts that build on each other that my niece had no trouble at all following the pace that the game laid out for us. The trigger for earning keys is tied to how well you do in the game, so if everyone is doing really well and having an easy time, the game will naturally reward that with a faster pace. My niece was so excited to discover what was coming next and every time we played would ask her parents if they could stay longer and play just one more time if we were on the verge of the next unlock. 

Once you’ve played through all the chapters, that doesn’t mean you have to be done with the game. You now have a complete, slimmed-down version of Alchemists that I find very satisfying to play as an adult. The deduction elements grow throughout the campaign and it offers a nice challenge that I never got bored with. It’s not going to be as heavy as its namesake but it also doesn’t take hours to play and will hopefully be enjoyed by your whole family. 

The only negative has to do with the app. The narrative is cute and fun to watch between each chapter and it does a great job of helping to teach you the game and remind you of important things during each turn. It is, however, quite sensitive to lighting when it comes to scanning the potion ingredients. Once you figure out the right combination of room lighting and phone angle, it’s great, but it can also be a bit of a headache to get it to scan if your lighting isn’t good. I think that’s something they can patch (I don’t know, I’m not a computer guy) so hopefully that is already improved when you play or will be in the future.

As a bonus, here is my niece’s review:

“I give Little Achamist an 100 A+! I thought it was so much fun, like wats better than having a pet owl who loves blue like I do! I loved having to make magical potions and so many therys! I recomand this game to anybody who wants a chalnge and fun at the same time. By!”

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