Alchemy ~ Genetics
By Leslie Crenna,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Kids create crazy animal combos in fun but repetitive app.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this app.
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Alchemy ~ Genetics
Community Reviews
There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What’s It About?
Starting with three animals, kids drag one animal over another or tap to create new animals. The plus button allows kids to add any existing animals to the playspace; pressing and holding in the list window will display characteristics, existing combinations, and a link to a Wikipedia entry for the animal. The challenge button (light bulb) displays current target creatures.
Is It Any Good?
ALCHEMY ~ GENETICS is similar to other entertainment-oriented combination apps like Alchemy and Doodle God. The difference? This one leaves out the mature content and adds links to Wikipedia articles for every creature created. (In some ways it's more like Pocket Frogs.) Some creature-loving kids will love creating and collecting up to 525 animals and may even read about the real-life critters. Others will get bored with the repetitive gameplay and won't engage with the adult-level scientific information.
A great deal of gameplay is simply testing sequences of possible combinations over and over. Some kids will actually try to think about characteristics to create the challenge creatures, but, for the most part the logic is not all that logical: Hedgehog plus dragonfly makes opossum; ant plus squirrel makes flea; owl plus opossum makes eagle. Others have some logic: Ant plus rat [tailed] equals scorpion; fish plus scorpion [venomous] equals scorpion fish. If nothing else, Alchemy ~ Genetics will get your kids wondering about animal characteristics. Try introducing your kids to the Simple English Wikipedia website if they are struggling with reading the Wikipedia entries or just ignoring them.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Introduce your kids to Simple English Wikipedia website if they're struggling with the Wikipedia entries.
Kids interested in animals and collecting will enjoy Pocket Frogs.
Use our Wikipedia tips to help kids understand how to evaluate sources of information.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire
- Subjects: Science: animals, biology, Language & Reading: reading comprehension, vocabulary
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: asking questions, deduction, hypothesis-testing, logic, memorization
- Pricing structure: Paid, Free
- Release date: December 3, 2012
- Category: Puzzle Games
- Topics: Bugs, Cats, Dogs, and Mice, Horses and Farm Animals, Ocean Creatures, Science and Nature, Wild Animals
- Publisher: Creative Mobile
- Version: 1.1.6
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 3.0 or later, Android 1.5 and up
- Last updated: July 13, 2020
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Download
Our Editors Recommend
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate