Getting Started in Alchemy Factory (1.1)

Alchemy Factory is a medieval automation and shopkeeping game that begins with a small workshop and can grow into a multi-level automated factory. The core loop is simple to describe but wonderfully capable of becoming a nest of belts and pipes: process materials, turn them into useful goods, sell those goods or complete commissions, then reinvest the money into land, equipment and technology.

1. Learn one complete production chain

Do not begin by trying to automate everything. Pick a product you can currently make and follow it from raw input through every processing step to the finished item. Alchemy Factory uses processes including grinding, extraction, distillation, smelting and other material processing, so understanding where each stage begins and ends is the foundation for everything later.

2. Keep inputs, processing and outputs readable

Give raw materials a clear entry point, group strongly connected processing devices, and give finished products an obvious destination. A readable workshop makes shortages much easier to diagnose than a beautiful tangle in which every conveyor crosses three others for reasons known only to your past self.

3. Start automating repeated work

The game is built around conveyors, pipes and magical devices. Use automation to replace repeated material movement once you understand the chain. If a line stops, work backwards from the stalled device and check whether the missing input is raw material, an intermediate product, transport capacity or available output space.

4. Leave space for vertical expansion

Factories are not limited to one floor. Production chains can be built at different heights and connected into a three-dimensional network. You can expand upward or downward, so avoid designing the first floor as though it must eventually contain the entire industrial revolution.

5. Use storage as a diagnostic tool

Buffers between stages help absorb temporary differences in production speed. Watch what happens to them: a buffer that continually empties suggests insufficient upstream supply, while one that continually fills points toward a downstream bottleneck. More storage can postpone a problem without fixing it.

6. Connect production to the shop

Finished goods such as potions, jewellery and relics can be stocked in the shop, and commissions provide another reason to manufacture specific products. Production therefore needs a commercial purpose. Reliable output and reliable sales should grow together.

7. Reinvest rather than hoard

Coins earned through the business can be used to buy land, research equipment and upgrade technology. Spend toward the constraint that is actually slowing you down: space when the factory is cramped, equipment when processing capacity is insufficient, or technology when a useful new system solves a real problem.

8. Understand the two unlock paths in Version 1.0

The 1.0 update moved non-production devices out of the Tech Tree. Those devices are unlocked through the Workbench, while production progression continues through research and technology. If you cannot find a utility or shop-related device where an older guide says it should be, check the Workbench.

9. Do not ignore Shop Recognition

Version 1.0 replaced the old Reputation model with Shop Recognition. Recognition can increase shop reputation and profits, and post-release updates added clearer tutorial guidance for applying for Recognition. Treat shop progression as part of the main game rather than something to investigate after the factory is finished.

10. Prepare for larger logistics

Conveyors and pipes remain the everyday tools inside production chains, but Version 1.0 also adds rail-based Wagon Logistics. Wagons have greater transport capacity than conveyors but need more construction and planning, making them more appropriate when your factory has genuinely grown beyond compact local movement.

11. Grow customer access only when supply is ready

The Grand Portal allows customers from distant cities to reach the shop. Version 1.0 also lets customers navigate upper floors and supports multiple shop gates. These systems give you far more freedom to grow the commercial side, but increasing customer traffic before production can keep up merely produces more elaborate empty shelves.

12. Use the next guide for the problem you have

If the factory is becoming messy, continue with Automation & Factory Layouts. If a product chain is confusing, use Recipes & Production Chains. If you are unsure what to unlock next, use Research & Unlocks. Shop, Recognition, Wagon Logistics and Grand Portal guides cover those systems separately so this beginner guide can remain a practical starting route rather than becoming an alchemical telephone directory.

For players on version 1.1.5024

The October 16 update added cargo lifts for moving packages between levels, new track variants, a Recognition Display Stand, a Charcoal Block and a World Tree Block. These expand later building options; beginners can still start by learning one complete production chain. Check the current in-game unlock requirements before planning around new devices.

A practical beginner route: Alchemy Levels I to V

The main quests, rather than general shop sales, advance your Alchemy Level. The following quest sequence comes from a community-maintained dataset for v1.1.5023, checked on 22 October 2026; confirm quantities in your own v1.1.5024 save before preparing a large delivery.

First quest: Logs to gears

Research the Table Saw and Grinder. At base machine speed, one Table Saw processes Logs into 30 Planks a minute, while one Grinder converts a Plank into a Large Wooden Gear every six seconds. Twenty gears therefore consume 20 Planks. Once the machines are running steadily, that Grinder needs about two minutes of processing time for the quest, excluding setup and delivery.

Second quest: plan the whole flax chain

One Linen Rope needs two Linen Thread, each thread needs three Flax Fiber, and each fiber comes from one Flax. That is six Flax per rope, or 300 Flax for the 50-rope quest. The first quest reward includes 200 Flax, so plan how to grow or obtain the remaining 100 instead of building a line that immediately runs dry. Flax Seeds become available at Level II.

Third quest: calculate ingredients before doubling machines

A base Assembler makes 10 Healing Potions a minute using six Sage Powder and six Flax Fiber for each potion. Its full-speed demand is 60 per minute of each ingredient. Start with one Assembler, supply both materials consistently, then expand only if their sources and transport can keep up.

Keep an eye on these early mistakes

• Wrong unlock screen: production machines belong in research; many utility and shop devices moved to the Workbench in 1.0.
• Extra machines with no inputs: expand herb processing and transport before copying the final Assembler.
• Confusing shop and level progression: shop income funds expansion, but completing the main quest moves you to the next Alchemy Level.
• Unnecessary upgrades: improve the currently limiting part of the line instead of upgrading everything at once.

Sources and accuracy: Quest deliveries and quantities are taken from the community Alchemy Factory beginner guide and recipe database (data marked v1.1.5023). The game's official 1.1 update notes describe additional devices, not changed quest deliveries. This guide has not independently tested each delivery in v1.1.5024.

Early milestones that are easy to miss

Main quests raise your Alchemy Level, but side requests can unlock useful infrastructure before the next major delivery. From Level II, the Carpenter Request chain begins with a delivery of 200 Planks and opens building options such as the Wooden Box, Trash Barrel and Beam as the chain progresses. At Level IV, the Sample Request for 50 Bandages pays 12 silver and opens the Dispatch Portal for contract selling. Check the in-game quest list for exact prerequisites, as neither request replaces the main quest needed for levelling.

First automation purchases: avoid the cash trap

1. Keep an emergency reserve. Preserve enough currency to buy raw materials and continue research if a new line is unprofitable at first.
2. Use a Purchasing Portal when it genuinely saves repeated work. It becomes available through the Workbench at Level IV and is assembled from one Portal Sigil and five Planks, per the current community reference. Place it near the consuming machines where practical.
3. Do not push your entire money reserve through the portal. It continues buying when supplied with coins and eligible empty input spaces.
4. Once you build an Automatic Cashier, empty it. At Level IV it can stop when its coin storage fills; remove money manually or route its output where appropriate.

When to replace a Seed Plot with a Nursery

Seed Plots are available earlier, use a seed for each planting and require manual harvest. A Nursery appears at Level IV, holds on to its seed and runs from fertilizer. One Basic Fertilizer Assembler reportedly makes 15 units a minute; a Nursery using Basic Fertilizer consumes roughly five units a minute at full fertility, supporting about three Nurseries. For some crops a weakly fertilised Nursery can be slower than a Seed Plot, so automate farming for consistent output, not automatically for maximum yield. See the current community Nursery comparison.

Quick answers for a fresh factory

Why won't potions sell? Check that a Potion Shelf has been unlocked at the Workbench after Healing Potion research and that the route is accessible. Why can't I find a portal in the research tree? Since 1.0, many non-production items moved to the Workbench. Why do belts stall after an upgrade? Machine and Logistics Efficiency improve separate things; check whether the output belt is slower than the new machine rate. Does my main level rise through ordinary sales? No: complete the next main quest delivery.

Version note: These mechanics are sourced from the community v1.1.5023 beginner data and are intended for players on the 1.1 release. Check the game's current build for changed prices or unlock conditions.