Compounded Proves Chemistry Can Be Kid’s Stuff

My four-year-old sets off lab fires. Fortunately, it’s only in the context of Compounded, a clever little chemistry game from Dice Hate Me Games.

Compounded has been around for over a year, but it didn’t catch my eye when it was first kickstarted in January 2013. That’s not unusual, since I tend to be skeptical about untried games. It debuted later in the year to good reviews, sold out quickly, then came to my attention with a campaign for a reprint and an expansion. This time I was ready to listen.

At its heart, Compounded is a set collection game. Each player receives a handful of atoms, represented by little plastic bits hidden in a drawstring bag. The are 100 hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium, and sulfur atoms to play with, enough to build a lot of interesting little molecules.

The molecules are represented by a grid of cards. Each card shows the atoms that make up the molecule and its point value. The more complex cards offer special rewards when completed, but may explode when the inevitable lab fire card shows up.

Compounded Complications

The core loop of Compounded is simple. Draw some elements, claim some molecule cards to work on, put your elements on the cards, score points and gain new abilities. However, the game is kept lively by its mix of cooperation and rivalry. Players can swap elements, lab equipment and favors with each other, so working with your fellow scientists is the best way to get ahead.

Players can also use their abilities to elbow each other aside, claiming valuable experiments or even ruining each other’s work. There is more cooperation than rivalry, which keeps the game friendly — but there’s just enough sabotage to keep the game tense.

I love science and engineering themes, so I was pretty sure I’d have fun with Compounded. What surprised me was how quickly my kids took to the game. They love the gem-like elements, the wooden tokens, and especially the big chunky lab key that signals who goes first each round. (For some reason, they’ve taken to unlocking their heads each time they get the key. I think that’s symbolically a good thing?)

That simple loop is also a big draw. The aforementioned four-year-old does not play with any particular strategy, but she gets the idea of pulling the pieces from the bag and looking for places to put them. Because the game encourages a cooperative approach, it’s easy for her to form an alliance with her big sister to crush Daddy. That’s a pretty big plus for the little girl crowd.

Compounded isn’t an educational game per se, and I don’t think the girls are consciously learning anything about elements and molecules from playing it. That said, it is scientifically accurate, and it puts some of the basic tools of chemistry into its players’ hands. I’m thrilled that my daughters will walk into a class someday already knowing what a bunsen burner is, and I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope they aren’t still looking for things to blow up with it.