Alembic

Alembic is a falling-sand laboratory simulation in which every element is modelled on its real-world counterpart, with properties such as density, atomic mass, electronegativity, valence and phase transitions. Rather than using fixed crafting recipes, the simulation determines outcomes from what the materials are, what state they are in and the environment they are placed in. Players can heat, cool, dissolve, electrify, compress and irradiate substances, with examples including sodium reacting with water, thermite formed from ground aluminium and iron oxide, electrolysis, alloys and amalgams, rusting iron, and melting silica into glass.

Beyond individual reactions, the game includes machine parts that operate within the same physics as the rest of the sandbox. Pipes carry liquids and gases, fans create pressure gradients, filters separate phases, conveyors move loose matter, thermal plates heat or cool, and sensors can control equipment. Generators only produce electricity when matter moves through them, for instance via a fan-driven gas stream, falling water or a steam cycle. Nuclear physics is also simulated: radioactive materials emit radiation, neutrons travel through matter and are moderated, scattered, reflected or absorbed, and fuels such as uranium can undergo fission. Reactor geometry, fuel arrangement and control materials affect whether a chain reaction can be sustained for power or runs out of control. Heat, pressure, buoyancy, gas compression, resistance heating and structural rupture are handled as interconnected systems throughout the world.

Progression is discovery-based. A Codex records elements, reactions, phenomena and tools as they are encountered, and much of the periodic table unlocks through experimentation rather than a conventional progression tree. Challenges with Bronze, Silver and Gold targets cover areas such as distillation, metallurgy, chemistry, engineering and nuclear destruction, while a Sandbox mode makes the full laboratory available immediately. Tools include heat, pressure, vacuum, pipetting, a mortar for grinding and prefabs, and the game window itself can be shaken by holding Shift to physically mix its contents.