Little Alchemy 2 is a puzzle game available on the web and for iOS, Chrome, and Android. It’s an update of the original Little Alchemy game with more items, new art, and more. Players start with four basic “elements” — air, earth, fire, and water — on the right side of the screen. They can then drag and drop these elements to the workspace on the left, combining and recombining to create new elements such as puddles, energy, the planet, lizards, love, humans, zombies, robots, and farmers. There are 720 elements in total. Each new item discovered is accompanied by amusing flavor text. As long as it isn’t the final element in its branch, each time an element gets created, it gets added to the column on the right and can be used in new combinations. Learners can use the encyclopedia to keep track of elements they have unlocked, reread the flavor text, see the combinations that create each element, and browse by element category. The concept might sound simplistic, but it’s a highly addictive experience. It’s easy to lose minutes or hours figuring out new combinations and discovering new elements.

At first, learners will make new connections very quickly, as most early elements combine with each other (and themselves) to make new ones. But soon only some elements are combinable, and learners must think more critically about what might be possible. Most of the elements are things from real life, but some are fantastical, such as zombies, dragons, and centaurs. There’s generally a logical, if not always scientific, reason for the results of combinations. For example, mixing water with air creates mist, and mixing soil with a seed creates a plant. If learners try to combine two elements they’ve successfully combined before, the game briefly shows them what the result was. Once you’ve combined an item in all of its possible pairings, it becomes depleted and is removed from the available library. It is still accessible in the encyclopedia, however.

As learners play, they’ll reach invisible goals that unlock new basic materials, such as metal, which can then mix with many existing elements. For example, mixing metal with a duck creates an airplane. There are also elements that aren’t things at all, such as “big” and “time” and “motion.” Additionally, sometimes combining two elements creates more than one new element, such as when combining two humans to make both love and a family.

Little Alchemy 2 lends itself well to a number of subjects, but it isn’t meant to teach any particular one. It could be a great option for learners who finish their work early or as an optional homework assignment. For more traditional learning, educators could have their learners map out the factor trees (which will look more like webs) as they create new elements. Teachers can also latch on to elements such as a centaur, organic matter, or primordial soup and discuss how they were created in the game, and then extend that to literature, history, or science lessons.

Although the combinations of elements aren’t usually scientifically accurate, they would provide a good starting point for discussing how what’s represented in the game — or actual elements — do combine scientifically compared with the game’s simplification. There are also opportunities to discuss symbolism in literature and language. At first, elements are more concrete, but over time, players discover more metaphorical ideas such as love, time, sickness, and death. Teachers could have learners extend these ideas, talking about why Little Alchemy 2 equates these concepts with specific elements; learners can even make their own combinations and perhaps even their own games.

Challenge learners to see how many elements they can unlock. When they get stuck, encourage them to give each other hints. Have them think about what kinds of things can be mixed together in real life, or even in a fantasy world (such as a horse plus a human makes a centaur). Then use the online “cheats” to break up any frustration and get learners combining again.

Little Alchemy 2, in its own unique way, lets learners learn through discovery and experimentation. While it’s not a product designed for content learning, it offers an irresistibly fun experience that can lead to content learning if educators are flexible. For instance, educators could use Little Alchemy 2 to discuss how things combine in real life vs. in the game, or the logic behind certain combinations. As the game gets more difficult, learners will need to use their creativity, systems thinking, and educated guesses to discover new combinations. Combining air and animal, for example, creates a bird, so many of the combinations are logical, but many are less straightforward. After a while, few elements will combine, so learners will learn patience and how to curb their frustration.

Since Little Alchemy 2 is an open-ended sandbox puzzle game, it can be a boon to classroom learning, or it might lead to playful chaos. Learners can easily get through the game through trial-and-error (at least to a point). It would be helpful to wrangle the trial-and-error a bit, by encouraging learners to approach play more thoughtfully. Learners could map and diagram their choices, or talk through their logic and engage in prediction. There’s not much support for this approach in the game itself, though, which could frustrate some educators. However, educators more comfortable with the open-ended nature of the game — and doing some extra work to guide learners to learning — will find the experience inspiring, useful, and engaging in a way few more traditional educational games can be.

Website: https://littlealchemy2.com/

Overall User Consensus About the App

Student Engagement

The addictive sandbox puts learners in control as they mix and remix elements to create new — sometimes humorous — combinations. Difficulty increases as learners explore complex possibilities.

Curriculum and Instruction

Critical thinking, creativity, and a sense of humor will help players do well in this game. Learners’ perseverance and lateral thinking will be tested, but more structured content learning is left to creative educators.

Customer Support

The website includes general strategy hints but also a “cheat” section that shows learners exactly what needs to be combined to create specific elements. Using these tips strategically can help learners who get stuck.