The Alchemist

Imagine, 1983

Written by Chris Owen, HTML'd by Arnt Gulbrandsen.

Controls

Keyboard, Kempston

Aim of the game

You, the most skilled Alchemist on earth, have been summoned to do battle with the Evil Warlock who is terrorising the land. You must enter his castle and find the four sections of the magic scroll, which will enable you to defeat the Warlock by turning his own Spell of Destruction against him.

Game play

The Alchemist can wander around as a human until he reaches a steep hill or a drop, and he can transform himself into a giant eagle to overcome these obstacles. The castle itself is full of rooms, caverns and passageways filled with a wide variety of monsters, (possibly) useful objects and minor spells which can only be used once, and of course the four pieces of the magic scroll. Matters are further complicated by two factors: first, the Alchemist can only carry one object at a time, so an element of strategy is involved in deciding which to carry. Secondly, any type of movement, bumping into objects or transformations all deplete your stamina. This can be maintained by collecting food packs. You do however have two weapons - lightning bolts and casting spells, if you have any. These use up your magical energy, which is replenished only with time. Encounters with monsters are also draining, although this depends on whether you are carrying a weapon like an axe or sword.

Comments

"Fun ... [but] not terribly addictive."

Rating

85% (CRASH #2, March 1984)

Now

A rather dull game by modern standards. Tough, too.

Keys

Left		-  SPACE
Right		-  CAPS SHIFT
Cast spell/	-  A
fire bolt
Transform	-  ENTER
Flap		-  Q
Pick up/	-  P
drop object
Pick up/drop	-  0
spell scroll
Quit		-  1

Nettverksgruppa, 5/10-94, sinclair@nvg.ntnu.no