Ask any teacher or parent: it's awfully difficult to mix real, practical learning with conventional kid's entertainment. That's why those few properties that actually manage to pull it off, like Bill Nye the Science Guy, The Magic School Bus, and Schoolhouse Rock are held in such high regard, even decades after they've finished their respective runs. A new game called ChemCaper is trying to do just that, and after a successful Kickstarter campaign, the first episode is now available on Android.

ChemCaper is set up as a Japanese-style RPG, in basic structure if not aesthetics. You play as Roub, a moon creature tasked with tracking down a local god to help with a creeping evil that's scouring his world. It's pretty standard save the universe stuff, and the exploration and turn-based combat elements will be familiar to anyone who's played through a conventional role-playing game. The educational aspect comes from the crafting system. While a traditional RPG (like, say, Skyrim) will let you craft potions, poisons, and weapons with either fantasy ingredients or super-simplified versions of real-world plants and materials, ChemCaper forces players to use actual elements, solutions, and compounds to power up their weapons and inventories. Even the pet system requires a little periodic table knowledge, and players use real chemist's tools like flasks and centrifuges to advance.

According to the press release, the real-world elements of the game are based on the International General Certificate of Secondary Education's (IGCSE) chemistry content. The game's visual style is unique, with fascinating and non-traditional character and costume designs, and the music is nothing to sneeze at either. The only real downer is the price: eight bucks is quite expensive for a mobile game, not to mention one that claims to be the first in an incomplete series aimed at children. On the plus side, it's compatible with Android TV devices, at least according to the Play Store listing. There are no ads or in-app purchases.

PRESS RELEASE