Alchymedes slot review

Alchymedes sets out to try and solve the age-old question if gold can be conjured out of base metals. I’m going to see if it’s possible to turn my funds into some big wins!

This slot was developed by Yggdrasil and released in 2017, impressing me at the time with the spectacular graphics. The game still looks amazing a few years later, with different symbols that are all animated and uniquely designed. Meanwhile, the background and peripherals all fit the theme and are animated as well.

Alchymedes puts us in the shoes of an alchemist who’s trying to create something special. With the help of different elixirs and a collection of symbols, the search is on for big wins. This all happens on a 5-reel, 4-row playing field with 30 paylines that pay both ways, effectively doubling the number of paylines.

The slot places us inside a dreary library that reminded me of Magic Wilds by Red Rake Gaming which puts you in an identical location. Golden Grimoire, created by NetEnt also had the idea to put its game on the dark attic of some mysterious castle. If you’re looking for a slot with this kind of theme, there’s plenty to choose from!

I thought the soundtrack sounded pretty familiar but it wasn’t bad. The quality was clear and it offered quite a sweeping, dramatic background music while the reels spun. I liked the sound of water dripping on wet stones that filled out the thematic setting as well.

Symbols

While not all the symbols in Alchymedes are fully original, I can’t omit that the designers went out of their way to make everything feel appropriate for an alchemist’s science station. The high-paying symbols are different kinds of jars and potions while the low-paying symbols are based on the card suits. Instead of simply copying those, Yggdrasil did turn them into strange-looking runes that might explain the use of magic in the alchemy process.

From highest to lowest they are:

• Purple Potion: Max. 500 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Red Potion: Max. 400 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Blue Potion: Max. 300 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Green Potion: Max. 200 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Spade: Max. 100 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Heart: Max. 90 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Diamond: Max. 80 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Club: Max. 70 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Wild: Substitutes all other symbols in the game.

With the small number of symbols, it seemed to be easier to get a win, which fit with the Medium Volatility that was listed. I found the game would quite regularly award wins but they wouldn’t be too big. The Wild and Multiplier features did help a lot in increasing those numbers. My funds also stayed relatively stable over time, picking bets between £0.30 and £60 per spin.

Features

Alchymedes stays relatively simple when it comes to the special features, considering it has no free spins mode or bonus game. Instead, it offers players different ways in influencing the way the slot plays.

• Paylines from both sides: The game counts its 30 paylines running from left to right and vice versa.
• Progressive game: The goal of the game is to have every spot on the playing field be part of a winning payline. Once that happened, a multiplier is applied to the last win and the field is cleared.
• Wilds: Wilds substitute all other symbols in the game. Random Wilds: According to the pattern on the left side of the screen, Wilds are added according to that pattern.
• Multiplier: During the game, the multiplier randomly increases by 1. On the last winning payline that finishes filling the screen, the multiplier is applied and reset to 1.

The main features in the game are the two contraptions on either side of the playing field. The left one deals with the pattern and frequency of Random Wilds that are added to the game. Wilds show up randomly but always expand into the pattern shown on the left.

On the right is the multiplier counter. This randomly increases the multiplier that is applied to the last win of the level. What’s a level? Every time there is a winning payline on the screen the associated slots on the playing field become gold. Once all slots are filled with gold, the level is completed and the multiplier is applied to the last win. This can go up very high, I’ve seen it go beyond 20x!

Between levels, the game offers the opportunity to either use the left feature or the right feature more often. If you pick the left feature, the Random Wild patterns will be bigger. If you pick the right feature, the multipliers will add up more quickly.

I found it fun to try and find the best balance between the two features, but because the last win of a level could be very low even a hefty multiplier couldn’t save it. That’s why I personally went for a focus on Random Wilds.

The last thing to mention is the random bonus at the start of a new level. This can be a certain coin value, but also an extra slot on the Random Wild pattern, starting with a 3x multiplier and more.

In Conclusion

Alchymedes is a pretty standard slot when it comes to its features and options, but these features do a lot to shake up the gameplay. I found the Random Wilds appearing often to be quite refreshing and some of the patterns would reward big wins. The multipliers helped to make the final win in a level more important. It would happen frequently that the final win was a simple low-paying three-of-a-kind win which meant the multiplier still didn’t result in something big.

The game allows players to pick a bet between $0.30 and $60. A max. win of 10,000x your bet is a very alluring prospect but I think the best way to get that is with a smaller bet. Although the medium volatility did fit my experience, the wins I would get would still regularly be small.

I found the game to be very fun even though it stays close to the classic slot experience. The beautiful graphics and the fitting soundtrack helped put me in the mood. I think the game will be a good fit for a lot of players, both those that enjoy the more old-school games and newer, more modern slots.