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In Chymicalia, you’re the slave of a teleporting alchemy shopAnd even better, you’re in Yorkshire
And even better, you’re in Yorkshire
Image credit:Falling Awkwardly
Image credit:Falling Awkwardly
Chymicaliais an adventure game and/or visual novel “about causing chaos in a small Yorkshire town with unlicensed alchemy”. Hey, I’m from a small Yorkshire town originally! I recognise that chip shop with the palsied neon sign! And hey, that looks like the underpass they told us kids to stay away from! And the textile mill they eventually turned into an old folks home! And the teleporting sentient potion shop where we used to hang out and play pogs! Wait, scratch the last one.
There’s been a curious upsurge of games with brewing mechanics lately - considerThe Magical Mixture Mill, out this week, or the picturesque hellscape that isBrew Barons. Chymicalia is one of the dourer entries, with a cracked, in-world phone interface and rundown pixelated locations that recall the petrochemical vistas ofNorco.
Chymicalia trailerWatch on YouTube
Chymicalia trailer
Your task here is to chat with customers, identify their problems and attempt to create a potion that will set things to rights. The shop, however, has a “sinister agenda” for its clientele which you’ll need to factor into your plans - it puts me in mind of the mysterious musical instrument shop in Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music, though it seems rather less benign. You’ll have to find a way to keep all sides happy, perhaps. And beyond all that, there’s the vital question of escaping the shop’s control yourself.
Here it is: if you get the train to Ben Rhydding and walk back down the lane towards Leeds past the big houses, you’ll come to a field with trees on the righthand side. Buried under the trees somewhere, there should be a bong called Edwin. I didn’t do cannabis as a young ‘un, but one of my close friends did and he naturally insisted on naming his bongs Edwin. There may be other Edwins buried elsewhere in town. Perhaps there’s even a magic teleporting shop, as well. I leave it to posterity to find out.
