Crash Lab: Real Chemistry

New in 1.2 — real recorded sounds, seven places redrawn in pixel art, and effects that really pop. All 285 reactions are real, balanced chemistry.

Crash two elements together and what really happens, happens.

■ This game tells you where it's lying to you It shows every reaction instantly. That's the one lie it tells. So in 118 places it stops and says "in real life…" — that this needs heat, that this takes months, that nobody should try this at home. It even counts how many of those notes your child has read.

■ Every equation is balanced Drop sodium in water and hydrogen blows up. Leave iron out overnight and it rusts. A silver spoon turns black with time. All 285 reactions are real ones, balanced down to the coefficients — and a script checks them on every build.

■ How you play Put two element characters on the stage and crash them. Whatever they make goes into your book. You start with 38 and the goal is to collect all 167.

■ 35 missions From "make some hydrogen" to recreating the acid lightning makes and turning it into fertiliser, 35 rounds climb like a ladder. Clear the first three and the free lab opens — then you can mix anything.

■ Weapons and places — for the ones that won't join (1.1) Flamethrower, Tesla coil, water cannon, freeze gun, hammer, knife, magnet, laser, tornado, balloon, fireworks. Park something next to platinum and it turns catalyst. Fire at anything and something happens — gold says "not even warm?", carbon never melts, and tungsten laughs at a 3,000℃ torch. All of it true. Move the stage to the Moon, a space station, a volcano, Antarctica, undersea or a storm. On the Moon water boils and then freezes, and fireworks make no sound. Also true.

■ Two players, one phone — Lab Duel (1.1) Sit facing each other and take turns: one card, or one weapon. Make the goal substance on your side first and you win the round. There's no rock-paper-scissors table — the chemistry is the table. Nobody gets hurt.

■ Three cards a day — today's experiments (1.1) "Freeze water on the Moon", "react something beside platinum" — three cards every day. Do them and they check themselves off.

■ What time does Cover the bench and walk away, and real time passes. Iron goes red, silver goes black. Gold does nothing at all — that's what gold is for. Can't wait? Fast-forward and see the result, and the game still tells you how many hours the real thing would take.

■ Made so a child can do it alone

• If they can read a little, they can start with no explanation
• If dragging is hard, everything works by tapping
• The first three rounds hold their hand; after that it lets go
• Stuck a few times? A hint slips in

■ Built to be safe Dangerous substances carry a mark, and recipes and quantities are deliberately left out. Explosion flashes are limited to one every 0.9 seconds, and with the device's Reduce Motion setting on they don't play at all.

■ No internet, no account, no ads No login. No personal data collected, at all. No ads and no in-app purchases. There isn't a single external link, so a child can't wander out of the app. It works the same on a plane.

■ For teachers Curriculum notes and lesson plans are on the support page.

■ What's inside 285 reactions · 167 substances (38 elements) · 35 missions · 30 workshop builds · 51 achievements · 13 tools · 7 places · 3 props · 30 experiment cards · Lab Duel