Age 6+ Artec Periodic Table Card Game

ArTeC Periodic Table Card Game is an innovative and educational game that combines the fascinating world of chemistry with the excitement of a card game.Each card in the game represents an element from the periodic table, complete with its atomic number, symbol, and atomic mass. Players can engage in strategic gameplay by matching cards based on their properties, such as atomic number, atomic mass, or chemical group. The not only enhances players’ knowledge of the elements but also promotes critical thinking, problem-solving, and memory skills. It is an excellent educational tool for students, chemistry enthusiasts, and anyone interested in learning more about the elements of the periodic table. With its engaging gameplay and educational value, the ArTeC Periodic Table Card Game offers a unique and enjoyable way to dive into the fascinating world of chemistry.

Periodic: A Game of Elements is one of the latest title from Genius Games, a company that has always striven to merge real science with fun gameplay (often to solid results).  With Periodic, designers John Coveyou and Paul Salomon try to combine the elements of educational, scientific concepts, set completion, and easy, engaging gameplay, and have ended up synthesizing what might be my favorite Genius Games title yet!

So, having spoiled my impressions of Periodic, let’s take a brief look at its mechanics.  The goal of Periodic is to end the game with the most points, and the main way you’ll earn them is by moving your flask across the game board – a candy-colorful periodic table – in order to research elements and create compounds, which will result in a pile of points when completed.  Periodic is all about who can manage to complete goal cards faster, thus securing victory.

Now, we should probably say right here that Periodic is a pretty darn abstract game in most ways – you’re really just moving your piece across the board, trying to be more efficient and effective than your fellow scientists at tagging the elements needed to make the compounds which will score you points.  But there is a simple brilliance to the design that makes it so easy to engage and lots of fun besides.