Introducing Chem Fight
I’m currently putting the final touches on my latest HTML5 game: Chem Fight - the chemistry battle game. I started building the game about a month ago for the js13KGames competition. The goal of the competition is to build an HTML5 game in 13 Kilobytes or less when all the game’s code and assets are zipped up. Even though I am not very knowledgeable about Chemistry, I thought it would be fun to build a chemical-based game similar to the card game Magic the Gathering, where you would purchase elements from the Periodic Table and attack your opponent with them. Also, I thought that playing this game might be a good way to learn a little about chemistry, chemical compounds and reactions.
Game Mechanics
The game mechanics of Chem Fight are pretty simple, you are given a number of “Atom Bucks” which are used to purchase single atoms from the periodic table (i.e. you can purchase Helium [He] with atomic number 2, for two Atom Bucks). In each turn, players attack with a single atom, the defender is shown only the valence electron count of the attacking atom and is given a chance to choose a number of atoms for defense. If the attacking atom will bond with one or more of the defender’s chosen atoms, it is considered a successful defense and the defending player is given a number of Atom Bucks and Energy Units as a bonus. If there is no known possible compound between the attacking element and any of the defending elements, the attack is successful and the defending player is damaged based on the atomic number of the attacking element. The defender is penalized for any unbonded defending elements (this is to discourage players from just defending with every element they own each time). Energy units must be spent to regain the unused defending elements, if the player has insufficient energy, their health is damaged for the deficit. At the end of each turn, players earn a number of Atom Bucks and are given the chance to purchase more elements.
Simple Right? If you are done reading, try out Chem Fight now.
Helpful Hints
Here are some hints that might help you out:
- Currently the game is broken up into 3 rounds, after each round the opponent gets a bit smarter and each player starts with more health, energy and atom bucks.
- Noble gasses are special because they cannot be used for defense or defended against, but to purchase a Noble gas, energy must be spent.
- Purchasing a variety of elements will help players defend against more possible attackers.
- Typically, heavier elements and elements found in the middle of the Periodic Table (Groups 2 though 16) are better for attacking, and lighter elements found on the sides of the Periodic Table (Groups 1, 17, and 18) are better for defense.
- Typically if the opponent is attacking with an element with 1 valence electron, you should be able to defend using a Hydrogen (because the 2s electron subshell will be filled)
Hope you enjoy playing Chem Fight, perhaps you’ll learn some chemistry while you are at it!
