In development · Lopand Game Studio
Alchemy is your magic.
Your twin has turned to stone, and not just your twin: a curse is spreading across the kingdom of Almar. Grab your staff, fill your belt with potions and set out to find the master who can stop it.
- In development
- Android, Mexico first
- Free to play
- Full story for free
- In Mexican Spanish
Two apprentices, one of them stone
Enna and Tiago are twins and apprentices of Master Orbel, the alchemist of Brezo. One night, the stone that had already taken the queen takes one of them too. You choose who turns to stone and who sets out to find the master, heal the kingdom and bring their twin back.
Alchemy is the heart
Gathering, brewing and fighting are one single loop. Potions are your magic, your medicine and your key.
A world that remembers
Day turns to night, people talk to each other and what you do stays: whoever you heal goes back to their life.
Fair to those who don't pay
The full story is free, with no energy and no paywalls.
Warm and homegrown
A warm adventure with a melancholy undertone, written in Mexican Spanish from the very start.
Explore, brew, fight
In landscape: the joystick on the left; your staff and your belt of four flasks on the right.
Explore
Explore every area, gather ingredients, talk to people and take on their requests.
Brew
At the still: grind in the mortar, mix in the right order and work the bellows to mind the fire. The quality depends on it.
Fight
In real time, with your staff, your flasks (to drink or throw) and up to two allies at your side.
Open up the world
Fire burns brambles, ice crosses water, vines build bridges and acid breaks salt.
Four essences, twelve potions
Ascua (ember: fire and light), Rocío (dew: healing and cold), Raíz (root: growth and defense) and Vilano (thistledown: speed and stealth). You learn recipes from your master's notebook and from the people you meet; the ones you master will brew automatically.
RocíoDew syrupSoothes a cough and heals light wounds.
AscuaFire flaskThrown, it bursts into flames.
RocíoStone wardSlows the spreading stone and removes it when it has barely begun.
AscuaLightYour body glows for a while: in the tunnels you see much farther.
VilanoSmokeA grey cloud: enemies lose sight of you for a few seconds.
RaízBarkskinYour skin hardens like bark: you take half the damage.
RaízVineRoots sprout and hold enemies where they stand.
RocíoIceFreezes what it touches: the enemy stands still for a few seconds.
AscuaAcidEats through armor and shells: the enemy takes more damage.
VilanoFeatherLight as thistledown: you walk much faster.
RocíoGreater elixirThree essences together: heals all your health.- ???And one moreThe one the whole kingdom needs. Better discovered by playing.
Alchemy grows with you
Alchemy level
Every recipe you learn and every person you heal raises your level, up to 10. Each level makes what you brew a little better.
The workshop
At Madre Sauce's cart: a stone mortar and a leather bellows that give you more room at the still, and a double flask that sometimes gives you a second potion.
What alchemy opens
Pip tells you when there's an obstacle nearby, you can look at it to learn what it needs, and your journal notes which potion opens each one.
Eight allies, all free
They join you through the story and fight at your side, up to two at a time. None of them comes from the gacha: they belong to everyone who plays.
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The salamanderPip
Sarcastic and affectionate. Drops hints without making a big deal of it.
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The bakerNerea
The twins' best friend: enthusiastic and up to date on every bit of Brezo gossip.
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The temple healerSister Clara
Calm and steady. She distrusts alchemy, but not people.
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The hunterDámaso
A veteran and founder of the Guild. Dry, practical, measures everything in catches.
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The wind spiritBrisa
Lives in the Amber Forest and distrusts humans. Speaks little, sometimes in the plural.
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The mine engineerSabela
Quick and practical. Talks about machines as if they were people and loves blowing things up (carefully).
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The royal guardTello
Serious and loyal to the queen. Says little and promises less.
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The smugglerBibiana
Clever and mocking: she'd strike a deal with thin air. Loyal to whoever pays her… and whoever saves her.
From Brezo to the Tower
Arc I, the first release: three chapters, about 15 hours of story and 60 to 80 in total.
- Brezo: your village, with your master's laboratory, the bakery, the temple and the wheat field.
- The Amber Forest: living resin, spirits and Brisa's home.
- The Salt Mines: dark tunnels where the salt gets up and walks.
- The capital of Almar: the walled city, its black market and its catacombs.
- The Tower: where your twin was taken.
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Mossy wolf
The moss on its back isn't moss: it's spreading stone.
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Grey-backed boar
It paws the ground before charging. After the run it's dazed: that's your moment.
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Amber spirit
Living resin holding a spark. It won't let you get close.
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Salt bat
It hangs from the tunnel ceilings. It shrieks before diving at you.
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Salt golem
Slow: when it raises its arms, get out of the circle.
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Living statue
It doesn't move while you look at it. Turn your back and it's on you.
Each enemy family changes with its essence (colors, a trick and weaknesses) and its rank, up to champions. Every hit shows how much it took: big and orange if your essence beats it, grey if it resists, and bigger the harder it lands.
The quests, place by place
What each of the 62 Arc I quests is about, who gives it, where and in what order it opens. No big spoilers.
A village that lives by day and by night
The game's clock keeps running: people move around, windows and lanterns light up at night, and what you do stays.
- A real night: dark, with pools of light under every window, lanterns that pulse, the village candles and Pip glowing at your side.
- Weather: it rains every three days, there is fog in the hollow, dust floating in the mines and fireflies in the fields.
- The sound of every place: nine music tracks that change with the place and the time of day, and ambience underneath: birds and the blacksmith's hammer by day, crickets and an owl at night, echoing drops in the mines.
- People remember: villagers talk about what you did for them, and whoever you heal goes back to their life.
- The Hunters' Guild: daily jobs on the board, seals and ranks.
- The Rifts: two places off the path, with waves of enemies and a chest at the end.
Free to play, with clear rules
The game will be free, with a gacha of legendary allies, familiars and outfits. This is how we're designing it (planned; it may change before release):
- The full story, free: no energy, no waiting and no paywalls.
- Never in the gacha: the twins, the eight story allies, the recipes you need or the chapters.
- Visible pity: the top rarity by pull 90 at the latest, with an on-screen counter that doesn't reset when the banner changes.
- Odds on screen and banners that come back: no "now or never".
- No power sold directly, ads only if you want them and a monthly spending cap you set yourself.
- Prices in Mexican pesos, with packs you can pay for in cash.
In development
Arc I can already be played from start to finish in the studio, with its art and sound. We're making it the same way as Rail Critters and Lumbre, la última luz: step by step, with tests on every change. The art and design are by Romina López, and the sound effects and music are made in the studio.
- Arc I, complete: the prologue and the three chapters with their 62 quests, the twelve recipes, the eight allies, the two Rifts and the Guild. Also the alchemy level and the workshop, a story revised from start to finish, the night with its lights, the weather, the new music (nine tracks) and the sound of every place, vibration and the title screen with its options. And a pass over every screen, one by one: easier-to-read lettering, a still with its mortar, flask and stove, the kingdom's own coin, a joystick you can see on any ground and a softer night. In our tests on a mid-range Android phone, the first areas run at 87–90 frames per second.
- Next: playing it all the way through on the phone and polishing what comes up, testing on simpler phones, the store screenshots and video, and accounts and the gacha.
- Release: no date yet. First on Google Play, in Mexico only; then iOS and PC.
Want to know when it's out?
We'll announce it in the studio devlog. If you're press, the El Aprendiz de Almar press kit is already available.
Tell me when it's out
Rail Critters
Our first game: a three-lane arcade runner in pixel art. You can try its mini version right now, in your browser.
Play the demoGame facts
| Developer | Lopand Game Studio (Lopand Solutions S.A. de C.V.) |
|---|---|
| Status | In development (2026), no release date yet |
| Platforms | Android, first in Mexico only; then iOS and PC (planned) |
| Price | Free to play, with in-game purchases (planned) |
| Genre | Top-down action RPG |
| Language | Mexican Spanish |
| Screen | Landscape |
| Engine | Flutter, Flame and Bonfire |
| Press | Game press kit |
Ahead of launch, El Aprendiz de Almar already has its support and FAQ, its privacy notice and its terms of use. Questions? Write to soporte@lopandsolutions.com.