Materia Prima places players in a medieval world where mysticism and science are inseparable in alchemy. In search of the philosopher's stone, recipes must be researched and resources mined. The competitive sandbox game combines various mechanics, such as dice rolling while fighting, deck building while recipe exploration, grid movement on a modular game board, pick up and delivery while resource mining, resource management while crafting items and area control by creating little helpers, the Homunculi.