Ray Hosler
United States
Santa Clara
California
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My son enjoyed playing Elementeo, and so did I. It’s not a complex game by any means, but it has enough decision making and variety to make it playable many times over. You can develop play strategies, which is key for a successful game. And while there is a bit of luck involved with the Alchemy cards, it doesn’t break the game.
Will you learn something about chemistry? Well, some. It helps to know what elements make up a compound. You’ll also learn more about characteristics of elements as you read through the cards, which are annotated with useful information.
Components: The game comes with a folding thick playing board, two 40-card decks of Element cards, a 19-card Compound deck, and a 20-card Alchemy deck. They’re beautifully illustrated by a professional artist.
Rules: The colorful 43-page rule book is clearly written and offers a useful glossary of terms that will be familiar to the chemist. After our two games we had a few niggling questions on rules, but for the most part the rules are well thought out and explained. The rules are somewhat repetitive as you’re taken through the different play levels. Most players will want to start playing using all the play levels since the game is easy to play and learn even with all the levels incorporated.
This is basically a card game on the order of Magic. Your cards have certain strengths that apply toward combat. There is a die roll added to the base strengths that makes things interesting. The die reads 1,1,2,2,3,3, which reduces randomness to an acceptable level. Some Element cards have special powers written on them, as do Compound cards.
Each player has 3 actions in a turn, which can be applied to card placement, movement, and combat. The goal is to reach your opponents side of the board, called the fortress, and destroy all of his 10 electrons (white chips). Once your card reaches your opponent’s side of the board, you roll the die for hits and the card expires, relegated to the Toxic Waste Pile.
Strategy: There’s a lot to think about during the game. How do you conduct your offense, while preventing your opponent from reaching your side of the board? Do you create compounds or not? Compound cards are powerful, but they take time and resources to build.
I think the crux of the game is creating Compounds cards. Here’s where you start to learn. You need to know what elements combine to make a compound. There’s a helpful cheat card that lists some common compounds. It takes two to three elements to make a Compound card, which, as you might expect, has greater powers. You can also use your electrons to buy Compound cards, but it’s a random draw. Gunpowder is an awesome 10 points, making it virtually invincible in combat. However, there’s an Alchemy card that destroys an opponent’s compound, which my son happened to have in hand when I created Gunpowder.
So, how educational is it? By reading all the cards and studying what elements combine to make compounds, you’re picking up the basics of chemistry. You won’t be playing Elementeo in preparation for an organic chemistry exam, but this is a game with chemistry as its theme, pure and simple.
Our games went quickly, taking about 20 minutes each. I like that duration for quick, fun games. All in all, I’m impressed. The game costs $25, which is a bargain.
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