Serious Games Infuse Chemistry With Fun

by on 30 August, 2007 - 16:08

Via: Alex and Elementeo - Injecting Fun Into EducationAlex reports: "they only recently came across Elementeo, a project that combines chemistry and board games. Besides, the kid is priceless".Mobilized by the latter, I've decided to further explore the subject.

For Anshul Samar, fun is thinking up an idea, creating a product based on it and selling it to the world.Probably the youngest founder-CEO in the history of business, 13-year-old Samar is a seventh grader from Cupertino, California. He wants to “inject fun into education” by combining the elements of a fantasy wizard world with the textbook world, where fun and learning come together without clashing.How did Samar get inspired to start the company? “Well, here I am, sitting in Silicon Valley where I constantly see all these adults going about and creating products. I didn't want the adults to have all the fun. :).”

Samar argues that textbooks are boring and kids would rather spend their time battling enemies, blowing things up with bombs, and yes, even giving their opponents lead poisoning.So he created a fantasy role playing game that combines the rapturous teenage joys of competition and carnage with the exciting properties of the periodic table of chemical elements. 

How the game worksYou command an army of chemical elements, compounds and catalysts — represented within a 66-card deck.

The fire and brimstone card is for “Sulfur

Your opponent has his own deck with the same number of cards. Your goal is to battle your competitor and reduce his IQ down to zero.

Pit your oxygen card against your opponent’s iron card, for example, and you learn that you create rust. Score one for oxygen. Kind of like rock-paper-scissors, but with chemicals, dice and 66 impressively illustrated cards featuring monster-themed caricatures of chemicals.

Elementeo’s initial seed funding, which was used to design prototypes, came in the form of a $500 grant from the California Association for the Gifted.His goal is to reach $1 million in revenues by the end of his first year on the job, which is by summer of 2008. He’s seeking funding to mass produce his idea and has been attending entrepreneurship technology conferences to gain some visibility. Impressive, how he’s put together a sharp team which includes his 11 year old sister as the VP of Sales.

Original post: http://elianealhadeff.blogspot.com/2007/08/serious-games-infuse-chemistry-with-fun.html