Alchemy is really a very simple premise of a game.  You start with 4 elements, and by combining them you create other elements (for example earth plus water equals mud), then from there you create other items by combining what you have.  When I started out there was 270 items, but recently the author, through update has increased this total to 300.

Again, simple easy to understand and control wins the day.  There is no lengthy manual for Alchemy… none is needed.  Simply a couple of prompts that inform you of what to do on each screen and you are good to go.  The things I like about games like Alchemy is that you can play them for as little or as much time as you have at any given time without losing your place.  That being said, I have spent quite a bit of time mixing and finding combinations and have lost several hours to its addictive powers.

There are two things that make the game a bit frustrating… the negatives if you will.  The first is that some of the combinations are just plain hard to figure out, and (as far as I can tell) there is no way, that based on logic alone that you will be able to figure all of them out.  It has taken me at times, just addding a bunch of random items onto the screen to see what else I may come up with accidentally.  The second is some of the items that are meant, I guess, as sort of tongue in cheek.  For example (minor spoiler alert) combining cancer and Bicycle give you Lance Armstrong.  I understand what they were going for… but it seemed a bit tacky to me.

But overall it is an enjoyable game that has a most excellent price of free.  (It is ad supported).  The author of the game on the website also offers “hint packs” as a source of revenue… this also borders a bit on the tacky side, but if you search the web, you will more than likely be able to find some clues without having to resort to paying for the clue packs.  I don’t begrudge anybody for trying to earn money on the products they create, but I would rather he have a “pro” version that you could purchase, or just go ahead and have a donate link.  Personally, I would be happy to pony up some cash for all the entertainment the game has provided.  And right there, is about as good an endorsement as I think I can give.  Here is a game that I would be willing to pay for, but (at least right now) you have have for the grand sum of nothing.

If you enjoy simple but addictive puzzle games, download it and give it a try.  And don’t forget to come back and tell me what you thought of the game.

You can scan the following logo with your android phone and it will bring you directly to the game in the Android marketplace.

Angry Birds is nothing new for iPhone users, and I was more than a little curious why this game was so talked about and so highly anticipated coming to the Android platform.  I have been told it is available for the WebOS platform, but did not see it on the market, and to be honest, while I like the WebOS platform, what few games I have tried playing on my Pre has left me running for the much bigger screens of my Android devices.  But this is not about the Pre, it is about Angry Birds.

Now given the hype surrounding this game, I tried to prepare myself for a let down.  After all, it is still just a BETA, and how could a game made for a phone be “all that?”  For the few people that have not heard of Angry Birds before, the premise is quite simple.  The back story is that a group of pigs stole bird eggs and the Angry Birds are trying to get them back.  What the game does is bring you through a series of “fortresses” that the pigs hide in and you must launch from a pre-set slingshot the Angry Birds at the fortresses in an effort to take out the pigs.  In a sort of sub game to the game, you get points for how much of the structure you take out, so while taking out the pigs on some of the earlier levels is relatively easy, you still wind up trying multiple times to maximize your score and garner a 3 star rating on each level.

I loaded the game on my Droid X, and the game graphics were incredibly sharp, and the game runs suprisingly smoothly considering it is a BETA (your milage may vary in this regard as I have seen a number of reviews complaining about issues with the game starting up… most notably on the HTC Evo 4G.

So, by now I am sure you are wondering, but how is the game itself.  Well, to put it simply, I now understand why this game is so liked and was so highly desired.  It is very addictive!  How addictive?  I had planned on writing this Saturday, but found myself engrossed in the 15 levels provided in the BETA (Lite) edition.  The game is extremely easy to control and understand, it is just hard enough to keep it from being too easy, and hard enough to frustrate you into trying again and again.  When you boil it down, it is really nothing more than a game of physics and geometry, lauching at this specific angle creates chain reactions and causes the structures to fall.  I have seen in a few reviews claiming that the version for the iOS is a bit smoother, and if true, it must be an amazing feat, because this game plays incredibly smooth with no perceptible lag or jagged graphics on the Droid X.

While the Beta is currently free, if it keeps the same price as the iPhone version, you can expect it to cost around $4 once the game is officially released.  The download weighs in at around 11.5 MB, so devices with limited space may find it a bit much (though if you have Froyo, you can load it on your SD Card), but other than that, I highly recommend downloading and trying out the Angry Birds BETA while it is available.   Just be aware… you may find time slipping away as this game engulfs you when you first start playing.