The Alchemist's House Review

*Contains Spoilers*

Lacking Content
Recently, I had the opportunity to play The Alchemist’s House - a small indie horror game available on Steam. The menu was attractive and the introduction was dramatic and intriguing, which was a good start. However, that is where the game took a turn in quality. 

Our character starts off in the entryway to what one might assume to be “the alchemist’s house” in front of a stocky gentleman whose arms are much too long for their body, which has the appearance of having been sculpted out of clay. An invisible wall traps our character until they engage in conversation with the man, who stands absolutely still beside us. Cue the first cutscene, where the camera awkwardly zooms in on the gentleman’s face, accompanied by slow and awkward voice acting and facial movements. Then he disappears, popping up in the next room. 

The house is large, but there was not much to explore before we were forced to, yet again, speak to the large man. Considering our character is supposed to be young and vulnerable, the man gives me an air of pedophilia which I am unable to shake for the remainder of the game.

The few actions the player does have to complete throughout the game are clunky and there is no audible indication that the action has been completed, which can be very confusing.
At one point, the player grabs a small doll which, when placed in the proper location, begins to dance around. Any tension the game had created up to this point ceased to exist. 

Characters were also introduced in a strange and inexplicable way. Throughout the game, I encountered people and creatures that would show up with little context, which left me confused by the end of the experience. The final sequence of the game was the most disappointing because it required no action on the part of the player and the story’s resolution was unsatisfying.

Overall, the game was disappointing. It lacked a solid storyline, contained characters that were creepy for the wrong reasons, had clunky interactions with the environment, lackluster voice acting, and the game as a whole only took around 30 minutes to complete. As a free experience, players may find it amusing but this is not a game I could recommend for anything beyond humor.

Special thanks to the developer for sending me a code for the game.

[Lady played The Alchemist’s House on PC with a mouse and keyboard]