Alnico Smithery

This game appeared to be similar to Potion Craft, which I very much enjoy. However this game feels a bit too uninpsired in the long run. After you've played for 1 hour, you've pretty much done everything. All that changes later is the outcome but the process is completely the same. I feel like what this game needs is change in pace after some upgrades. For example, make players have to refine a metal to get higher purity or make us hammer the ingot to make the metal tougher for some orders. If the whole gameplay loop is "get ore > figure out ratio of ores > melt ores > fill ingot molds > combine ingots on anvil according to a preset recipe" you have to make each step somehow more complex or "interesting". I believe that the ore refiner section could be made more complex but rewarding for extra work. Same with ingot making, make it a bit more complex than just filling the mold. Maybe I am wrong and later it gets more complex but I've caught myself losing attention to the game after a little while. Overall a very visually charming game with a theme I adore (smithing) but I can't recommend it for reasons mentioned above. However, maybe you're fine with what I said and this game is perfect for you. It's your call after all.

[hr] [i][b]Disclaimer:[/b][/i] [i]This game contains unobtainable Steam achievements.[/i] [hr] I've been looking for a good busywork title to pour a bunch of time into ever since I finished Potion Craft, and with Alnico Smithery I felt I finally found it - if only for a short while. And, despite Alnico Smithery managing to scratch the same type of itch for me, and doing many things right - it also falls into the same pitfalls Potion Craft does, and is about the same length, meaning you can 100% it in about 30 hours of gameplay with little incentive to replay it. The semblance to Potion Craft is immediately felt in the artstyle, which depicts minerals and machinery in fairytale-book-type illustrations, and a vivid, foxed-page color palette. I like this aesthetic a lot; it's a big part of what made the games appeal to me. Information is retained through simple shapes, colors, linework; the tutorial is short and straightforward, and you are quickly left to discover things through the various interlocking systems it offers. Much like Potion Craft, Alnico hinges on the satisfying feeling of seeing raw material through multiple stages of refinement in order to obtain a product to profit off of. In Potion Craft, you collect plants from your garden, grind them into paste, throw them into the cauldron, then mix, bottle, and serve them - while in Alnico Smithery you mine ore, crush it, refine it, dispense it, melt it, combine it into alloy, pour it into ingots, then shape said ingots into a craft you sell. Considering the medieval setting of the game (modern alloys aside), big emphasis is put on menial labor rather than automation. This is something I like, and even prefer. The process begins by mining ore, physically turning a hand crank to drop rocks onto a conveyor belt - that also has to be operated manually. The rocks are then crushed by a crusher so they fit into the refinery snuggly. Each action has an accessibility setting associated with it, ensuring prolonged play is not made straining for the player, which is considerate on the dev's part. Refined ore is then dispensed onto a crucible the player placed below the chute in advance. This crucible is manually moved to the furnace, which has to be heated up via the bellows repeatedly. It is then moved out of it with a pair of tongs. Spilled ore can be vacuumed back into the refinery using the chute if need be. Molten ore has to be carefully poured into molds set out by the player; in that, the tipper can be used to help do so precisely. Alloy inside molds cools down into ingots, which have to be placed on the anvil to start the shaping process as they are hot. Shaping is done through a mini-game that tasks players with hitting marks on the ingot precisely. This sequence is not time-sensitive, seeing how the ingots don't cool off on their own; I appreciate this design, as it contributes to the laid-back nature of the game. Missing marks affects the craft's quality, however, and nets you less overall pay. A complete product is then moved onto the scale to be sold for coin. Coins are also physical objects that can be manipulated at will, put into a physical piggy bank or melted down into their base components. The game is chock-full of these cool interactions, like being able to burn orders you don't want to fulfill, turning bugs into carbon, or accidentally melting down household objects. It truly feels like the dev has an eye for detail, which is commendable. With every task requiring deliberate action on the player's part - dragging ore onto the crucible, tilting it so alloy isn't spilled - one is given ample control over the process. They in turn end up caring more for the outcome. Intent has to be put into portioning ore, moving tools around the workshop, configuring mold setups, shaping ingots with precision. And, as much as this undertaking can be frustrating to some, it was an enjoyable experience for me personally. The challenge in Alnico Smithery doesn't stem from figuring out [i]how[/i] to craft an object, unlike other games; the recipe is already written down in scrolls you receive. Instead, the goal is to figure out how to make the alloy itself. As 3-part (or even 4-part) alloys are introduced, the process becomes more intricate, pushing you to tinker with elements and objects as you try to correct existing ratios, or dispose of failed ones. This fosters a sense of wonder and discovery with the game, filling you with joy if you succeed. It is possible to deviate from correct alloy ratios by up to 30%; you do not actually need to be precise, to a point where discovery is made impossible, or requires prior metallurgical knowledge. This preemptively eliminates a lot of unnecessary frustration, preventing Alnico from becoming a "wiki game". New alloys are simply discovered when a mixture cools down, and products are discovered when you finally purchase the right molds for them. Despite every aspect of the game being serviceable, my issue with gameplay (and thus replayability) is rooted in the limited amount of tools offered by it. Drawing parallels to Potion Craft yet again, Alnico suffers from the same issue, where players can only use 1-3 hand tools to manipulate items with - two hammers for hitting marks, and a rag to undo mistakes - then tongs, which is an action that can be forgone by juggling hot objects barehanded. I would have liked to see more implements - a vat of water or oil to quench items in, a vise or pliers to hold down objects as you shape them, a chisel and mallet to make grooves, punches or drifts to make holes, a file to remove finer amounts of material, a wire brush to clean up scaling, etc. Since interactivity and player involvement are the point of the game, players should have more tools to experiment and attune crafts with. I would have also liked to see the existing mechanics (and consequently the range of customer asks) expanded; for example, sharpening blades with a grindstone, applying coating, wax, or varnish on products, assembling hilts from pommels and crossguards as well as potential leatherworking / wrapping in the making of the grip (like in Jacksmith), inlaying precious metals or embedding gems, engraving symbols or initials, bartering for item prices, perhaps even "blessing" items. New mini-games would then have to be made to accomodate those. The lack of aforementioned tools and mechanics hurts the game's longevity, especially as the core loop consists of earning money from products, only to make more products. There are not enough meaningful purchases or upgrades to keep the game entertaining for long. An expanded toolset would have benefitted both the product-making process, and the game's economy. More storage options, as well as display cases for potential pins or rewards for following directions (like in Papers, Please) would be welcome. It is precisely the vast selection of alloys that keeps players occupied, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover a couple alloys I work with in real life, as well as fantasy alloys with some interesting properties. Towards the endgame, waiting for an order to come through that has an alloy you're missing, can get tedious. I feel there are enough base metals to work with, that the product lineup is satisfactory (despite many products still using placeholder sprites), and that alloy discovery scales well with the purchase of new furnace upgrades. Seeing a big emphasis put on the physics engine to carry gameplay forward, I have a hunch players looking for more substance will find themselves disappointed. It lacks the potential depth of a full-fledged smithing simulator in its current state. It's certainly one of a kind, a good foundation to build a more complex game upon. I am aware some features I mention in the review are already in the making, however with a sole developer at the helm, and half a year gone by with no major updates, I worry for this project's future.

The game is ok for what it is. Experimenting with the metal ratios is fun. You get enough metals for that. And you dont do things completely blindly, because you get hints about about which metals are in a specific alloy if you get an order for an alloy which you haven't seen yet. Pouring liquid metals into molds is also pretty neat. The smithing minigame isn't the best that I have seen but it works. All in all the the game is clearly very unfinished but the core gameplay loop seems mostly done. It's an early access game in it's alpha stage... But sadly I feel like this game is going to remain unfinished for a looong time. After being relatively active on this games discord, the Dev seems to suffer from burnout a lot. They seem to be pretty unorganized in their development. After multiple months of silence, they forgot what bugs they have fixed and what bugs are actually in the game. They then ask for someone in the community to make a list because "(yes im too lazy to do it myself)" Then someone mentions a bug related to fullscreen and the dev replies "Just because you said that, im gonna make it so you cant even resize the game window at all now." Now I am sure that is a joke. At least I hope it is. When I asked if they were joking they replied "Im not telling" So yeah. My recommendation? Do not buy the game while it is in Early Access. After it leaves early access be sure to read more reviews to see in what state it left. Pinapl if you are reading this I am sorry to leave this review. I still think Alnico has potential to be a great game. I really do. I hope you heal from your burnout. I wish you the best of luck. But I really can't recommend this game at all right now. I hope I will be able to in the future. When the game gets better I will update this review.

I think its a cool game but it feels incomplete. its not worth 15$ on got it on sale for 4$ which might be a little much. basicly the first thing you make is a cog made from alloy, so first thing isn't something easy like a tin nail? odd. and then every thing after that first order is, the same. its the same. nothing really changes, you do some more layered alloying and crafts but its all the same thing you did first craft. I enjoyed what I played and the physics is totally my thing but the work shop feels like there is suppose to be more and there hasn't been an update in 6+ months. I can only recommend not recommend on steam and really I don't feel right recommending this. nice if your short on time and want a fill for the sale price.

虽然是挺好玩的，但是倒在外面零零碎碎的小金属块能丢弃吗？能不能整个垃圾桶，我不能忍受废弃金属丢在地上！

近々日本語を含む複数の言語に対応予定。 日本語訳自体はすでにほぼ完成していて実装を待っている段階です。 追記： 日本語を含む多言語に対応しました。 段階的に翻訳箇所を増やす予定のようです。

I basically lost 3 hours to this without realizing. It's chill. It reminds me a lot of that potion game that had a similar style that came out a while ago. It's basically just chill out, experiment, and have fun. A few early access nagging points, like the fact some recipes have a placeholder 'CRAFT' image instead of the final sprite, but otherwise seems like a really chill way to spend some time. Quick edit: I wouldn't say it's worth it at full price, but for a sale price it's a great grab.

В целом Игра - Огонь!!! В предыдущую версию залипал с удовольствием. В версии игры на 14.08.2025 разнообразили механику ковки предметов из слитков. +Больше мини игр -Миниигры идут рандомно, что сбивает темп игры. -Разное построение мини игр: С малым молоточком - Игрок задает ритм, в остальных игрок ожидает и подстраивается под ритм игры. -Временами дичайшие просадки фпс (В предыдущих версиях такого не было).

I think the concept is great, but unfortunately it’s barely supported anymore, dev prefers working on other stuff and rarely interacts with community, the few times you hear from him are random excuses.

沒中文 半年前發了個準備本地化的公告 一個單詞一個單詞的翻譯完了以後存檔報錯了.. 然後按截圖鍵還沒反應