The Alchemist’s Study — 3D Printed Escape Room Game (Case Book + Puzzle Tools)

MULTICOLOUR IS THE DEFAULT — PRINT TIME DEPENDS ON YOUR PRINTER

The roughly 60-hour MakerWorld estimate is for the Bambu A1/AMS profile: a single nozzle repeatedly changes and flushes colours. It is not a universal printing time for these books.

For comparison, my own multicolour print takes around 17 hours on my four-toolhead Flashforge C5. That is my reported result for my own print and setup; the book, parts selected, material and settings can change the time. Single colour remains an option.

SINGLE-COLOUR PREPARATION — READ BEFORE PRINTING

For a one-colour working set, use the native multipart 3MF project: keep the book upright and its regions aligned; erase colour painting and assign every part to ONE suitable PALE, LIGHT-TRANSMITTING PLA. Keep the optical panel a separate part at 100% infill. Disable the prime tower only after mapping everything to one filament, re-slice both required plates and check Preview shows no colour changes. Check light transmission and readable marks on a sample before printing the complete set. This is preparation guidance and a slicer comparison, not a newly physically tested profile.

The whole-book STL is an easy decorative one-colour option, but it loses the separate optical-panel infill override. An opaque dark whole-book print does not replace the working optical panel. For game use, prefer the native project or the aligned-region files in the ZIP and preserve the panel override. Print the folding frame flat and the single wheel insert once.

A1 TIME COMPARISON — complete Alchemist book, frame and insert: about 12 hours 17 minutes in one colour versus 56 hours 15 minutes multicolour (about 44 hours longer). Reference Bambu Studio 2.8.2.61, A1/0.4 mm/0.20 mm/3 walls/10% Gyroid with panel 100%. Estimates, not measured print times; materials and other printers differ. The separate Codex is additional.

🔍 THIS IS A GAME, NOT JUST A MODEL

The Alchemist’s Study is a 3D-printed escape-room mystery. You print the case book and its puzzle tools, then solve the case in an illustrated story that runs in your web browser. The pieces you print are the evidence — you’ll use them at the table to crack what the screen alone can’t show.

The case: In 1698, Aurelian Vane vanished from a study bolted from the inside. The windows were latched. His notebook and his instruments survived. His explanation did not.

💷 WHAT’S FREE, WHAT’S PAID

• Free: every print file on this page.

• Paid: the game itself — the story, the puzzles and the answer-checking. It’s crowdfunding on Kickstarter now from £20, with play opening in December 2026 (estimated). 1–4 players, about 2 hours.

• Also needed: the free Codex toolkit (cipher wheel, grille and ruler) — see “The Codex” on my profile. The Reliquary collector’s book is optional.

👉 Back the game on Kickstarter

👉 Game details

👉 Not sure yet? Try The Apprentice’s Test — a free 25-minute browser mystery, no printer needed.

📦 IN THIS DOWNLOAD

• The Alchemist case book — upright print-in-place, edition L19

• Folding letter frame, V15 (prints flat)

• Alchemist alphabet insert, M80, for your Codex cipher wheel

• Multicolour native projects, geometry-only STLs, aligned colour regions and PRINTING.txt

No game code, solution sheet or commercial licence is included.

🖨 PRINTING — THE SHORT VERSION

Full notes are in PRINTING.txt inside the download.

• 100% scale, millimetres. Keep the book upright and all seven colour regions aligned as one object.

• The cream optical panel must be its own part at 100% infill in pale, light-transmitting PLA — it’s a working puzzle piece. A dark single-colour print looks fine but won’t work in the game.

• Print the folding frame flat, lettering up. No supports in moving hinges or legs.

• I’ve printed the book, frame and wheel on a Bambu A1 (0.20 mm layers, 3 walls, 10% gyroid, optical panel 100%). The original project has Creator 5 settings. Always re-slice for your own printer; no G-code is supplied.

For playing: seven loose strands of ordinary 1.75 mm filament, each at least 160 mm long, unthreaded. They’re game pieces — don’t trim them. Optional closure: four 6 × 3 mm disc magnets (check polarity). Keep magnets, strands and small parts away from children and pets. Use a cool, bright light for the optical panel, never a hot bulb.

Licence: personal, non-commercial printing only. No resale of prints or files.

Photos show my actual print. The opening image is artwork from the game; the three-book image is an edited photograph.