Escape First Alchemist

Escape First Alchemist is a first-person escape room from OnSkull Games. You are apprentices locked in the workshop of the alchemist Trismegistus, who has also trapped himself and taunts you as you work. The hook is potion brewing: you find ingredients and recipes, craft potions, and use their powers to get past obstacles. It plays solo or online with up to four people, and suits small groups wanting a short fantasy puzzle night.

Players rate it Very Positive, with about 80 percent of nearly 800 reviews in favour. Fans enjoy the potion mechanic, the good-looking workshop and the voiced master, and say most puzzles are fair and not too hard; a quick-brew option saves repeating recipes. Groups who played co-op report it ran smoothly, and several finished everything in two to three hours.

The complaints are specific. Some players hit game-breaking bugs, such as objects clipping through the floor or getting stuck, and one got lost during the x-ray vision section with no hints. Another found the narrator grating and noted that saving mid-run reset progress. It is short and has little replay value. Worth it on sale for a co-op evening; solo players may find the linear layout leaves partners idle anyway.