Alchemy Story is a wonderful farming simulation game where all the villagers have been turned into animals and it is up to you to turn them human again. Éloïse Laroche, the creator, was kind enough to give us an early access copy so that we can share with you everything that has been developed so far. You can follow her on Twitter as Confused Hamster and get caught up with the most recent updates with us here. You’ll love the adorable art style, brewing potions, and completing quests for the townsfolk! See below our sneak peek of what’s to come with video playthrough.

Story

Play as Arabella, training under the professor and alchemist Edward, and arrive to a seemingly deserted town. Edward explains that he believes the Witch has cursed all of the villagers and turned them into animals! He has prepared a transmutation circle in his basement to reverse the spell but first we must find the villagers and help them remember their names. The story in Alchemy Story is very promising and I can’t wait to play more!

Main Quest

Edward instructs you, via a letter from your mailbox, to find the first “person” which is a shepherd’s dog. You need to talk to the dog a few different times before you can progress the main quest. You can only talk to everyone once per day so you’re required to go to sleep in your bed. When the dog remembers his name, start searching for the mementos around their farmstead. All three items will be listed in your quest log so you know what to look for. Once all three items are found, go to Edward’s house, use his lift to the basement, and perform the transmutation.

Noah

You can now find and meet a shepherd named Noah returned as a human at their farm. Talk to Noah and receive your first farm animal as a gift! He also now sells cows, sheep, chickens, and rabbits, with different colors on different days. Go back to your farm and find an egg in your coop and hatch it. The most adorable baby chick with a red bow will come out and you can use the action button to jump for joy! Music notes will burst from you and the chick displaying that you are happy to see each other. I would like to be able to see an animation of petting but that may be still in the works.

Jasmine

The next in-game day, you will receive another letter from Edward telling you to find someone else. A lonely fawn can be seen wandering around another farmstead. Speak to it and repeat the same earlier instructions. This time, find different mementos that are important to this villager remembering who they are. Again, once you have performed the transmutation, you find a girl name Jasmine wondering her farm. She sells you items such as bugs, that you will need for potion-making, and another interesting addition to your farm; beehives! Purchase beehives and you can harvest honey. Jasmine is also the Fairykeeper; friends to all fairies. When you have given her the required items, you will unlock access to the Forest.

The Forest

Inside the forest, there will be many trees that you can chop up with your axe to receive lumber and other items. Every action with your axe will take up energy that is displayed on your screen. Once at 0 energy, you will no longer be able to cut down the trees but there doesn’t seem to be any other penalty.

Occasionally, a key will be among the items you gathered from the chopped trees so that you can unlock the next level of the Forest. Sometimes there will be a bench in the further areas that will replenish some energy. It’s unclear what other mysteries lay in this Forest but I’m excited to find out.

Side-Quests

One character you will be able to speak to from the beginning is Charlotte. Charlotte sells flowers that you can multiply in your garden or use for potions. She also sells garden plots so you can plant more things. She and Edward will begin to send you letters asking for you to bring them specific items. You can chat with them when you have said items in your inventory and they will automatically thank you. You will also receive money for your troubles. Completing a quest for them, chatting to them, and giving them a gift will display a smiley face. Quests and their favorite gifts will have a wider smile icon appear.

Foraging

Items can be found everywhere around the town such as in trees, the grass, and even on fences. They are all helpfully surrounded but swirling stars so they immediately stand out. Every day you can collect more items. However, some of the items Edward will request for his potion-making, such as Dark Water, will only be purchasable through him. It’s a little odd that he is asking you for an item he already has but it isn’t a big deal. Everything you need and the amount will be viewable in your quest log.

Your Farmstead

Every morning you will start inside your home near the bed you have just slept in. The bed is to save your game and start a new day. Normally I would want the ability to save separately from sleeping but there doesn’t seem to be any consequences in skipping to the next day or things that are missable.

When the next day is loading, it briefly tells you what day it is but it doesn’t appear on your screen when walking around or on the calendar. The developer just recently implemented a Day/Night Cycle so perhaps this is merely unfinished. Furthermore, do not stay up past midnight as Lutins will steal some of your money! I do appreciate the fact that once midnight hits, your character is sent home automatically. It saves me from walking all the way back.

On your farm, you will have a barn, a coop, a field with garden beds, a mailbox, and an adorable owl that will do some shipping for you. As a side note, I wish there was a mini-map on my screen as it took me awhile to recognize places and know where to go. However, I absolutely appreciate that all the farmsteads in the town have different colored roofs that I can see from afar. Another helpful feature would be that the name of the person’s farm appears, once you have uncovered it, when you enter the area. I’m just particularly bad with navigation and directions.

Potion-Making

Inside your home is a cauldron where you can practice your alchemy and make some money or enjoy the effects the potions give you. You will start off with two recipes that give you a list of items required to make them. Brew them and bring them to the owl just outside your home and you will receive money. What potions can be shipped at the time will change daily. New recipes will unlock by completing the aforementioned side-quests.

• 

• 

Your Farm Animals

So far, there is one trough on your farm that will feed all of your animals once per day. Approach it to select up to 3 of the listed items from your inventory that you have foraged such as plants and acorns. I can see why the items only pop up when you hover over them and then disappear so as to get out of the way, but I would prefer to see everything all at once. I’d also like to know what those items are worth and how many I own so as not to give away something too precious.

The developer has said that the more you feed your animals, the faster they grow. I gave my single chick 3 items every day for a couple of days and it turned into an adult! Seeing the adorable baby animals a little longer would be nice but perhaps other people would like to be able to receive their produce a lot faster. I skipped a couple days of feeding my chicken and there doesn’t seem to be any negative effects, for now. My preference is that my animals don’t get sick or die and to be able to take care of them at my own leisure.

Your Garden

To plant anything in your garden you must first interact with the most adorable gopher you have ever seen. It’s not obvious at first because it is hiding in a hole. There are a total of 9 plots which is a good amount for the items you get. Select items from your inventory like flowers can be fed as a snack to your friendly gopher and it will plant everything for you! In just a few short days whatever you planted will be multiplied by 4 and ready for harvest. Bugs such as butterflies may even appear on top. As of now, there’s no need to water your plants but there is a fishing well and bucket nearby so that may change.

Graphics, Controls, and Sound

Everything is in 3D with vibrant and beautiful colors. With regards to scenery, details are even added such as ponds, paths, and lights. When speaking to characters, they seem more alive as they continue to move and give facial expressions. It was great to see that our main character has lines and the dialogue box that appears will let you know who is currently speaking. Moreover, I have to make a special mention of the animals in this game because they are the cutest things to look at. I love that you can zoom in and out to take a closer look.

A tutorial box at the beginning of the game will clearly tell you what keys to use to play. I used a mouse which controlled the rotation of my camera and clicking on my menu and text. Everything worked pretty seamlessly for me.

The music is nice and relaxing and will change depending on what time of day it is. That was a feature I enjoyed as I never really found myself needing to constantly check what time it was. Hopefully, there will be sound effects added for the animals that make them just that much cuter. They will however walk right up to you when they see you which is already too much cuteness for my heart to handle.

I truly enjoyed playing this demo and can’t wait for the full release which you can wishlist on Steam here. There’s a release date noted of the summer of 2019. Stay tuned with myPotatoGames as we continue to follow the developer’s progress with an eventual final rating. For now, watch our video playthrough below for alchemy Story Demo Gameplay Part 1 and continue to watch for Part 2!