Foldlings: Alchemy Merge Game

Halloween, 24 Oct to 2 Nov: press Plant and Fire for a Pumpkin, then find the Ghost, Cauldron and Black Cat. Six to find, and they stay in your Almanac.

Foldlings is a merge-elements game where every creature is sketched in ink. You start with four things: Water, Fire, Earth and Air. Combine two and discover what they make. Everything else, you find yourself.

Hold one, add another, and press them together. Drag one little creature onto the other, or flip your phone face-down and the two halves of the screen fold shut like a book. Pick it up and see what you made. The first time Water meets Fire and turns into Steam, it feels like a small magic trick. It keeps going from there: Ice and Air make Snow, Snow and Snow make a Snowman, a Plant in the Sun becomes a Flower.

• 100 things to find, all from nature: weather, water, earth, ice and snow, the night sky, the shore, plants, and the animals that live among them • Every one is sketched in ink, with color that slips past the line, and each has its own way of being: the Cactus waves, Snow tumbles as it falls, the Snowman's head has slipped a little. The lines wobble like a sketch that's still alive. It blinks, it looks delighted when it's new and puzzled when nothing happens • Press two together and you see them squash flat before the new one appears • You're never stuck. Hints start from whatever you're holding, sparkles show which elements still have something to give, and when one has made all it can, the game tells you what to pick up next • The Almanac fills in as you go, and shows what you're ready to make • With Apple Intelligence turned on, a hint can arrive as a little clue from nature, and each discovery gets a short note about the real thing. It's written on your device and nothing leaves it • Ask Siri for a hint, what's in your hand, or how many you've found • iPhone, iPad and an Apple Watch app that keeps your discoveries in sync

No timers, no ads, no accounts, nothing to buy. Just a sketchbook that fills in a little more every time you press two things together.

Made by one person who wanted a calm game to play before bed. If you find a combination you think should exist, write to me from the support page.