Alchemickal
An everyday alchemist never signed up for any of this, but the jury-rigged tech strapped to his arm says otherwise. Shocking enemies with chain lightning, melting them with acid, or coating them in flammable tar and watching the whole room go up, every weapon carries a little more chaos than intended.
Alchemickal is a roguelike twin-stick shooter from solo developer rodbot, where frantic elemental combat meets genuine tactical thinking. Imbuing weapons with chemickals to exploit specific enemy weaknesses, discovering ancient recipes hidden throughout procedurally generated dungeons, and building a unique arsenal every run, you’ll fight to survive an arcane invasion that’s spiraling well past what one alchemist can reasonably handle.
What Makes It Different?
- Imbue weapons with chemickals to grant them elemental properties on the fly
- Shock, melt, or set enemies ablaze with distinct elemental effects
- Discover ancient recipes hidden throughout the dungeon to unlock new combinations
- Exploit enemy quirks, since some bleed, some rust, and some can be turned on each other
- Upgrade weapons through their own unique, branching upgrade trees
- Explore fully procedurally generated dungeons packed with hazards and ambushes
- Face permadeath, where every run starts completely from scratch
Chemistry as Combat
The core hook of Alchemickal comes down to matching the right chemickal against the right enemy at the right moment. Chain lightning, acid, and flammable tar each interact differently with the game’s cast of enemies, and since those enemies come with their own distinct traits, some bleeding out over time, others rusting, others capable of being turned against their own allies, reading a room correctly matters just as much as raw firepower. That constant puzzle of matchups gives combat a genuinely tactical edge beneath its frantic twin-stick pace.
No Two Arsenals Look the Same
Every weapon in Alchemickal comes with its own upgrade tree, and between worlds, a cosmic entity offers up a rotating stock of strange buffs to pick from. Bubbling cauldrons tucked away in the dungeon hide alchemickal recipes lost to time too, meaning the exact combination of weapons, chemickals, and upgrades built up over a run is rarely, if ever, repeated. That variety keeps runs feeling fresh even after learning the game’s core systems inside and out.
How Long Does a Run Take?
The average run time is about a half-hour per session. An average session lasts about 30 minutes.
Controller Support
No information provided.
Good If You Like…
If you enjoyed Rogue Star Rescue, A Contusion, or Debugging Hero, Alchemickal’s mix of elemental build-crafting and twin-stick roguelite combat should be well worth a look.
