Are your kids learning about chemistry? Does your family love fun, fast-paced card games? The you definitely need to consider Valence! Chemistry, ninjas, elements, molecules, and chemical attacks! What could be better?
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Valence is a Small Card Game
One of my favorite parts about Valence is its small size. I know that we’ll be able to find a spot for it, even in our tiny living space. The game is composed of two decks; 41 element cards and 42 molecule cards.
Elements in Valence and their charges. You have to create neutral molecules, so it’s also good practice with negative numbers!
Molecule cards are separated into stacks (for example, there are 9 identical salt cards; they go in a stack together) face-up. Players are each dealt 6 element cards. Each turn begins with the player drawing 1 card from either the draw pile or the discard pile. Then they can play as many element cards as they are able to and want to in order to get different molecule cards.
Winning the Game
Each molecule card is worth a certain number of points. The first player to 10 points wins. Watch out, though, because players can also use their molecule cards to attack, and points can change quickly!
Bases, deadly carbonyls, and halocarbons are worth the most at 4 points each. However, bases are susceptible to attack by acid and deadly carbonyls are susceptible to water. Halocarbons are not susceptible to anything, but they are very difficult to get (they need 5 elements). The molecule worth 3 points, metal oxide, is also susceptible to acid.
Fun and Educational!
Valence is a directly antagonistic game with players attacking each other’s molecules. However, it’s very fast, light-hearted, and fun, and who can get attached to molecules, anyway? So far, it’s been a safe bet for our family.
Each molecule card includes a bit of information about the molecule and what elements can compose the molecule. Of course, Valence does not contain all the elements in the periodic table or even close to it (there are only 9 different ones), but it does contain some of the most common. In addition, players are able to get familiar with some common reactions. For example, when a base is attacked by an acid, they are turned in for a salt and a water (NaOH + HCl —> NaCl + H₂O). Getting to see this really helped my kids understand.
So if you enjoy simple, fun, short games that pack a learning punch, Valence is a sure win!