Compounded Board Game - Chemistry Strategy Fun for Family Game Night

Had a friend show me this at a local con (Marmalade Dog, in Kalamazoo). He got it for his son, and could keep his attention. Essentially a resource management game, but your resources are randomly-drawn elements used to assemble chemical compounds to score points. Each completed compound also helps advance one of four "experiments" (progress tracks), which in turn expands your abilities - either to collect elements, claim compounds, place elements, or hold more elements on your workbench - and can also give you special bonus abilities. Having only played a few times, I'm still learning strategies, which should lead to more conflict in claiming compounds before opponents, picking which reward for completion is most needed, and putting your elements to best use - playing them, saving them for more valuable scores, or trading for scarcer ones.Most importantly, I knew my wife, who is an analytical chemist, would enjoy it. She's not a gamer, but occasionally can be convinced to play some games once in a while. This appealed to her directly, as it displays actual chemical compounds on each card, complete with empirical formula, as well as a display of the atomic arrangement and electron interactions. It has a modified two-player variant, to keep the game from dragging out, losing the trade between players, and competition for unclaimed compounds, as a dummy player (Nobel) plays extra elements, and can even score enough points to beat the players. To top it off, you can build a fire extinguisher for the inevitable lab fires (which blow up some compounds), and the score board is a Periodic Table.Very good introductory resource-management game, with a theme which might be a bit more current and interesting than many Eurogames, which tend towards obscure periods in history, or bland economic themes. Also good quality components, including gem-style plastic element pieces, for a very reasonable price, compared to most imported games of the genre.Kids love chemistry and we are a game playing family. This came highly recommended by science teacher. My kids ages 11 up to 25 enjoy playing together. No chemistry knowledge needed. Other games we love are Wingspan, Lords of Waterdeep, Terraforming Mars.I only gave it 4 stars because my game standards are pretty high. The quality of the packaging and board/pieces is excellent. They are pleasant to look at, easy to store (took out the box spacer for easier storage), and were relatively easy to get setup for the first time. The directions could have been better organized and, while I haven't looked for the company's published errata, there are some items in the instructions that require some interpretation. The first time or two you play, focus on learning the game rather playing it. Also, it says 2 player is an option, and it is, but it is a very different game than multiplayer. Still fun, but different. Overall, good game and worth the cost.It's great to see a game based on a STEM academic! Fun game! Although light on any chemistry, which may be good or bad depending on what you're looking for, it does make the idea of building compounds from fundamental constituents. Great for kids with an interest in science- not so impressive for adults, high school chemistry students looking to reinforce/build knowledge. Altogether- this game is just fun! the little pieces are a nice, tactile addition to gameplay. Learning this game is not very difficult.This game has some unique game mechanics. You don't have to like chemistry to enjoy Compounded. Watch a few tutorials & get the hang of how the game is played. The theme of this game accounts for just about everything in a chemistry lab. I won't say this is my most favorite game, but when I need a change of pace from contracts, worker placement, and dice, this is my go to game! It takes around 90 minutes to play, but it doesn't really bog down. You just have to get used to it. For me, this game takes me into a new world of thought! Buy this, if you REALLY want something different!We're board gaming enthusiasts - like, weekends of playing Twilight Imperium kind of board gaming. We usually play with some friends, and we haven't had much success finding two player games both of us enjoy. I wasn't expecting much of this game, but it's actually rather enjoyable as a two-player game on a weekday evening. We are both chemists, so it does appeal to our nerdy side :)This is a beautifully constructed game, but you practically need a PhD just to learn it. Once you get past the initial hurdle of setting up and learning, the game is fun and relatively straightforward, but it takes a while to get to that point. An additional annoyance is that a 2 player game requires additional rules compared to a 3 to 5 player game. If you're up for a challenge, go for it, but just be forewarned.Having a bachelor's degree in chemistry to my name, I was super psyched to see this game on Amazon, and I squealed with delight when I saw the period table score tracker. There are lots of cool bits and pieces, but ultimately, that made it a very intimidating game to learn. The first time we tried to set this game up, I got sleepy and gave up. When we finally dove in to actual gameplay, it went relatively well. It reminds me a lot of Pandemic:Contagion, but with a lot more side action. I'm sure this will be more fun to play with three or four people, but the two player version wasn't bad. We'll definitely play it again, but I wouldn't call this a must-have.