Each year, I try to find at least one completely addicting ‘just for fun’ game for my students. Previous hits have included the Sand Game and Boomshine, and the perennial favorite: Plants vs. Zombies. Monday, the perfect game fell into my lap thanks to @reshanrichards on my Twitter feed. The game is called Little Alchemy, and it’s a deceptively simple game. You begin with four elements – water, earth, fire, and air – and begin combining them to make new items. For example, combine fire and earth to make lava, or water and air to make rain. The new elements you create can be combined with others to make even more! Currently, there’s a total of 320 different elements you can create. I wasn’t sure how it would go over with my fourth graders; I was a little worried it would be too frustrating for them. Boy was I wrong! They went nuts for this game. Although it was put in my ‘just for fun’ category, the game did show some educational elements. The students had to use logic to figure out what elements to combine. It also fostered collaboration as students worked together to find and share new elements. The game can be played in a web browser online, or you can download the free app for iOS or Android. If you try this game out, be sure you have plenty of spare time – it will suck you in!
