From the publisher’s rulebook
Who goes first in Alchemists?
English CGE base-game rules

Whoever was most recently in a laboratory receives the starting-player token and chooses an order space first.
Rule details
The other players choose order spaces clockwise. Those spaces determine play order for the rest of the round; the token holder is not necessarily first to perform an action.
Players declare actions from the lowest order space upward, then resolve actions from the highest space downward.
Source & edition
- Alchemists: Czech Games Edition rulesCzech Games Edition · Starting Player Token; Choosing Play Order; Declaring and Resolving Actions · Checked 2026-09-23Printed page references: 7, 8, 9
Image: © Czech Games Edition and its credited cover illustrators · Czech Games Edition
If there’s a tie
The rulebook doesn’t say.
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