Overview of the game Periodic: a Game of the Elements

REVIEW

 In Periodic: a Game of the Elements (hereafter referred to as Periodic), players compete to collect sets of elements and advance their research as they navigate the periodic table. Doing this research requires energy, but a lot of it. Players will need to use their reserves effectively to find the items they need to complete the objective cards and progress along the achievement track. When the game ends, points are earned for the objectives achieved as well as the achievement track, and the player with the most points wins.

 If you're just curious to know what I think of Periodic, feel free to scroll down to the Opinions section. For the rest...

PREPARATION

 Preparing Periodic is relatively simple. The game board is laid out, and 8 element group cards are randomly placed around it, 4 on each side of the board. The objective cards are separated by color and shuffled into four face down decks. They are placed above the playing field, and the top card of each is turned face up.

 Objective cards depict specific sets of items. The objective dice that correspond to the objective cards are then placed on top of each of those items, the bonus tiles for each stack of objective cards are placed on top of the corresponding objective cards, and the lab tokens are set aside. Finally, one energy is placed on each of the periodic trends below the periodic table. After choosing their player's color and collecting their pieces, each player gets some energy to start the game. After the starting player is chosen, each player places one of their lane markers on one of the element group cards (dictated by turn order), their flask on the element with the lowest number corresponding to that element group, and then another lane marker on the first place of achievement track. You are now ready to play Periodic.

MOVING

 In Periodic, players will use energy to move their vials around the game board so they can find the items they need to fulfill the requirements of the objective cards. By putting energy into or taking energy from the Periodic Trend, the player can move their flask in the specified direction from 1 to 5 times. If the move causes the bulb to end up on the spot with the target die, then the player places one of their research dice on the corresponding target card to show that they have discovered the item. If the player has placed energy, then the extra energy can be spent during the player's turn to move multiple times and in different directions if the player wishes.

 If any player discovers all the elements on the target card, that card is scored. Any player with only 1 research die on their card gets 3 lab points. Any player with 2 research dice on their card gets a 5 point token. The player who completed the card does not receive lab tokens, but instead takes the card. The new card is then turned face up to replace it and the corresponding target dice are placed accordingly.

 When setting up the map, Element Groups were laid out around the play area, and players would place one of their lane markers on one of them. To advance along the achievement track, a player looks at the next card of an element group clockwise from their current marker position, and then attempts to end their turn with their flask on one of the elements included in that group. If they do, they place their marker on that card and then advance their other marker one position on the achievement track. As we will soon see, this will provide players with points at the end of the game.

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END

 A Periodic Game End is triggered when a player meets one of the following conditions: 2 stacks of objective cards are empty, 1 stack of objective cards is empty, and one player has reached one of the last 3 cells of the Achievement Track, or 2 players have reached one of the last 3 spaces of the Achievement Track. Each other player then gets one extra turn. When this is done, the scores are tallied and the player with the most points wins.

 Players earn points for completing objective cards, collecting lab tokens, remaining research cubes that have been placed on unfinished objective cards, and tracking achievement progress.

CONCLUSIONS

 If you've read my past Cytosis and Subatomic reviews, you'll no doubt know that I'm a huge fan of Genius Games. John Covia's ability to gamify the science behind everyday things continues to amaze me. I've always wondered what the world looks like through the eyes of a game designer. Being able to look down on the periodic table of the elements and see the game there is something that puzzled me. Yet John Covey did it, and it works.

 In his past games, John turned real scientific processes into games. Cytosis changes the way cells take in nutrients and expel waste, while in Subatomic, players manipulate subatomic particles to create protons, electrons, and neutrons, then combine them to create atoms. However, periodicity is something completely different. In Periodic, you don't put things together to make new things. Instead, you learn about what already exists by examining the structure in which the data is organized. It's like finding out about a person by going through their files in a filing cabinet. Although this can be interesting and informative, the process itself is not very exciting. It's easy to get carried away with smashing atomic particles to create things. It's much harder to get excited about looking at a chart.

 However, if you can get past the theme, you'll find a game that might surprise you. On paper, Periodic is a game about efficient resource management and route planning. How do you get the most you can in one go using only the energy you have at your disposal? At its core, however, Periodic is a fast-paced racing game. These goal cards fill up quickly and the achievement track is a ticking clock. You are constantly forced to choose between generalization or specialization. Do you focus all of your efforts on one objective card or spread out over several? If you finish your move here, will it be an easy opening for your opponents to capitalize on and score big points? Is the personal benefit of ending your turn really worth it, or should you wait and see what happens next? There is constant pressure to keep moving and at the same time you feel the same pressure to stand still and stay put. These conflicting desires create an interesting tension, and that tension grows closer to the end of the game.

 Aside from wishing the theme was a little more exciting, the only downside I can find with this game is that there is no way to change the turn order as of this writing. While this doesn't affect gameplay, it was pointed out to me in at least one play session that if two players were racing to get to the end of an achievement track and could progress each turn, the player who goes first in queue order would always wins. This is important because the last 3 spots on this lane can only accommodate a certain number of players. If you reach the end first, the people behind you will have to settle for second to last place. It's only 5 points, but in a tight race those 5 points can make all the difference. I understand that the final round of the game is designed so that each player will have the same number of moves, and this will be impossible to calculate since a player's starting token is constantly changing positions, but the inability to change the move order is still worth mentioning.

 In the end, I really like Periodic. While this isn't Genius Games' strongest game, it's still very good. I like the fast pace of the game and I appreciate the challenges that are presented to me. And like all of Genius Games' offerings, I definitely approve of Periodic's sneaky educational nature. John Covey's games always teach you something, even if you don't know you're learning it. When you see Periodic Trends as more than just places to place energy tokens, you realize that these are real concepts that are accurately reflected in how your bulb token moves along the periodic table, and before you know it, you'll be re-searching for periodic trends in Google. And that is the magic that Genius Games constantly brings to the table. The experience goes beyond the tabletop. Their games don't just make you a better player, they make you a smarter person.

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