In Little Alchemy you combine elements to create more and more advanced composites, moving up from air, earth, fire and water to wizards, hurricanes, dinosaurs and doctors. That’s it. You don’t do anything with your creations, just have the satisfaction of having created. It’s hard to believe that something so bare-bones can be so fulfilling. If you’ve never tried Little Alchemy here are some beginner tips, plus new creations added by developer Recloak in recent 2016 updates.

Where To Play ‘Little Alchemy’

Little Alchemy ain’t exactly resource intensive, so you have a lot of play options. Little Alchemy is available for Android, iOS and in-browser, but our favorite way to play is with the Chrome extension.

You can also play across multiple platforms. Create an account and your alchemist’s workspace will sync to wherever you’re playing.

Getting Started

Little Alchemy is very simple, just combine two items to try and create a third. Of course, this gets complicated fast, but there’s some things you should know starting out:

• Creations are always two items combined. Don’t worry about trying to layer triads.
• Like Minecraft, every creation follows a certain, child-like logic, e.g. wheel + wheel = bike.
• Don’t worry about clearing your workspace, everything you create is saved for later use on the righthand side of the screen.
• A long press (mouse or your finger) on any item will reveal its constituent parts.
• The recycle symbol clears your workspace, with one exception… (see Final Elements)
• Assuming you’ve got a keyboard, just start typing to quickly search your available alchemy ingredients.

Start With First Order Alchemy

Give yourself a leg up by first laying out all possible combinations of the basic elements. Throwing yourself right into Little Alchemy without these basic combinations can lead to some frustrating dead ends.

Plus there are some valuable lessons to be learned from the first order alchemical creations. Here are all the combinations possible with the starting elements:

Two early lessons:

• Some stuff just doesn’t combine. Fire + Fire just gets you more fire.
• There are multiple ways to create pressure. Both Air + Air and Earth + Earth create pressure. There are multiple avenues to many of the creations in Little Alchemy.

Final Elements

Final elements can’t be combined with anything else. They are the top of the combinative pyramid in that direction. By default under settings you’ll find “Mark Final Elements” checked. This means they’ll appear underlined on the workspace or in your alchemical toolkit on the righthand side of the screen.

Remember that one exception we mentioned with the recycle symbol? If final elements are on your workspace then pressing the recycle button will only remove those, leaving you with items that can still spark potential new creations. Press the recycle button again to fully clear your workspace.

How Many Items Are There In ‘Little Alchemy’?

560, plus 9 Hidden Gem combinations, which we’ll get to in a bit. There’s a separate desktop version available through Pokki with 30 extra combinations, but this alchemist isn’t about to bother with Little Alchemy it can’t create on Android or iOS while on his alchemical commute.

Don’t Use This Incredibly Helpful ‘Little Alchemy’ Guide

There is an online guide to Little Alchemy with a table revealing every single combination. What’s the point? Don’t use it. Don’t you dare. We won’t tell you where it is. *ahem*

Instead, try out the official Little Alchemy hints page, which will show you a random combination to prime your creative thinking.

Hidden Gems

Although you should avoid the comprehensive Little Alchemy guide, Hidden Gems are a little trickier. Avert your eyes, because we’re about to spoil the nine hidden alchemical combinations.

The nine hidden gems are....

Last chance to close the page…

You’ve been warned…

Doge, Keyboard Cat, Ninja Turtle, The One Ring, TARDIS, The Doctor, Astronaut Ice Cream, Nessie and Yeti. Careful, being Hidden Gems these creations do not appear in your permanent inventory and must be recreated on your workspace every time.

Here are the formulas for the nine Hidden Gems:

Chances are you still haven’t figured out how to create some of the necessary components for the Hidden Gems. Uncovering everything that leads up to a Final Element is all part of the journey. So enjoy and guard yourself against becoming twisted and obsessive like the real alchemists of old.