Alchemists: Solo Variant

 

Intro:

I really enjoy deduction games, and I really enjoy Alchemists. However, I also like to play games by myself. This is one game that easily allows for this thanks to the game app. Rather than play as multiple people or have dummy players, I just created a solo variant so that I could avoid all the fluff and get to the core of the game and what I like best: deduction/research. I'm still testing this out and refining it, but I thought I'd share it anyway for those who might like something like this.

Requires:

• Alchemists' Lab App
• 32 Ingredient Cards (remove 1 of each ingredient)
• Research Board and Tokens
• 1 Player Board, Deduction Sheet, and Results Tokens
• Writing instrument (pen, pencil, sidewalk chalk, blood, idk, whatever)

Set Up:

Set up the player board as normal, and give yourself a sheet to work with.

Play:

1.      Deal a hand of 3 cards.

2.      Choose two of the ingredients, use the "Test on Student" function on the app, and record your results. Discard all 3 cards from your hand, including the one that you did not test.  (Only test ONE pair. Don't test combos of all three cards.)

3.      Draw a new hand of 3 cards, and continue until you run out of cards.

You may choose to subtract 5pts from your score to discard one of the cards and draw a new one. You may not do so if it would require you to shuffle the deck, e.g. there are no more cards that can be drawn. (You can have a negative score.)

4.      Make your final decisions about which ingredient is which, place the tokens on the research board, and reveal the answers on the App.

5.      Count up your score. Keep a log so you can see your progress.

6.      See Variants below for ways to make the game harder or easier.

Scoring:

Scoring is completely arbitrary, and really just gives you a way to judge your progress and how much better you're getting at deduction.

You earn 10pts per correct answer.

Variants:

To make the game harder choose any or all of these:

• Do not allow yourself to discard, even for the penalty.
• Removing 2 of each card from the deck instead of 1.
• Randomly remove 8-16 cards, but don't allow yourself to see what has been removed. You'll have to work with what you have and sheer dumb luck.

To make the game easier choose any or all of these:

• Don't discard the third card in your hand. Simply draw back up to 3 each turn.
• Allow yourself to flip through the deck twice.
• Remove fewer cards from the deck at the start of the game.

Have fun!

 by Mrs. Ripper