Reference
System requirements
Alchemess is a Windows PC game built in Unreal Engine 5.8. It is a small download for what it draws, and it scales a long way down.
Minimum and recommended
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10, 64-bit | Windows 11, 64-bit |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 | Intel Core i5-12400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GTX 1660 6 GB / AMD RX 5600 XT | NVIDIA RTX 3060 8 GB / AMD RX 6600 XT |
| DirectX | Version 12 (Shader Model 6) | Version 12 (Shader Model 6) |
| Storage | 3 GB available | 3 GB available, SSD recommended |
| Network | Broadband for online play — no port forwarding | Broadband for online play — no port forwarding |
Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit only. There is no native macOS or Linux build. Steam installs the Visual C++ 2022 redistributable and the DirectX June 2010 runtime alongside the game. Ray tracing needs an RT-capable card, and is off by default on every card.
On storage: the release-candidate build is about 2.6 GB on disk, so 3 GB free is enough. A 20 GB figure appeared in earlier material and was an early estimate, not a measurement. These requirements are the studio's pre-launch figures and will be confirmed against the shipping build before 17 September 2026.
Graphics settings
The first launch runs a short hardware benchmark and picks a preset for you. You can override it with Auto, Low, Medium, High, Epic, Steam Deck, Steam Machine or Custom.
- Frame cap: 30, 40, 60, 120 or uncapped
- Resolution scale, plus windowed, borderless and fullscreen
- Ultrawide is supported — the press kit ships 21:9 captures
- Brightness, and separate music and effects volume sliders
Upscaling and ray tracing
On NVIDIA cards the game offers DLSS 4 — Super Resolution, DLAA, Ray Reconstruction, Frame Generation and Reflex. On AMD cards it offers FidelityFX Super Resolution 4.1.1. Hardware ray-traced reflections and shadows are available, as is a path-traced mode; both ship switched off, because the shop is lit well enough without them and the bottles are the expensive part of the frame either way.
The engine is Unreal 5.8 with Lumen, Nanite and Substrate. Exact resolution lists and per-GPU frame-rate figures are not published — they have not been measured on the shipping build, and a number invented for a website is worse than no number.
Steam Deck
There is a dedicated Steam Deck preset that the game selects itself on Deck hardware. It uses baked lighting and pre-baked label sheets, the second of which exists specifically so the printed labels stay readable at the Deck's screen size — an unreadable label is an unplayable game.
Valve has not rated Alchemess yet. Until it does, the game is neither Verified nor Playable and anyone telling you otherwise is guessing. There is no native Linux build; the Deck runs the Windows build through Proton. The studio's internal target is 40 fps on Deck, which is a target rather than a measurement.
Input
Keyboard and mouse, Xbox-layout pads through XInput, and PlayStation, Switch and Steam Deck controllers through Steam Input. Every binding can be remapped in game. Player 1 can switch between keyboard and pad whenever they like, and the on-screen prompts follow the device last touched. In couch co-op, players 2 to 4 each need a gamepad.
Network
Online play runs on Epic Online Services peer-to-peer with a relay fallback. No port forwarding, and no trouble behind ordinary NAT or a firewall that allows outbound UDP. Single-player needs no connection at all.
Before you buy
The Steam page carries the store's own copy of these requirements, and Steam's refund policy applies if the game does not run well on your machine. If it runs badly and you would rather it did not, support would like the details.