Who Is Genius Games

Reached out to Genius Games with 5 questions about their company and games:

What type of games does Genius Games publish?

1. Genius Games publishes science-accurate hobby games. Every game deals with a specific scientific concept, like cell biology or subatomic particles. We then design the game around that concept so that the mechanics encapsulate the scientific process. Before we release each game we make sure it's completely accurate to the science and the gameplay is engaging for people both new and familiar to the topic.

How did Genius Games start?

2. I've CC'd John Coveyou here, he's the founder and CEO of Genius Games. John had been teaching chemistry and kept running into students' perceptions of the hard sciences as intimidating concepts. So John decided to use gamification to make science concepts more approachable and fun to interact with. He launched Genius Games's first title, Linkage (one of the few titles we no longer publish) on Kickstarter, and Genius Games has been growing ever since. If you want to ask him any specific questions feel free to shoot him an email.

I like worker placement games. Which of your games would you recommend?

3. If you like worker placement games, I highly recommend Cytosis: A Cell Biology Game. It's a worker placement game that takes place inside of a human cell, and it's completely accurate to all the organelles and molecules inside a cell. It's been awarded the Dice Tower Seal of Approval and endorsed by the Journal of Cell Science.

How do your games support STEM?

4. All of the newer games (Cytosis, Subatomic, Periodic) include Science Behind the Game documents that have been outsourced by us to experts in their field, including many PhDs. We essentially have them play the game, and then write sections on the actual natural process and how it's represented in the game. It's really useful to show how the content in the games matches up to curriculum. Plus, Ion was recommended by the National Science Teaching Association for classroom use. It's quick, easy to learn, and covers chemical bonding, a subject taught very early on in chemistry classes.

What upcoming games do you have?

5. We've just released Periodic: A Game of The Elements, which is a tactical pickup game played out on the periodic table of elements. On October 16th we release Lovelace & Babbage through our Artana brand (more info on that below), which is a mental math and set collection game about the world's first computer and its programmers. And later this year we'll be releasing Ecosystem, a quick card-drafting game about drafting organisms and environments and placing them into an ecosystem, and Nerd Words: Science, which is a party word game with teams giving clues and trying to guess the science word based on the clues given to them. Our full line includes:

• Peptide: A Protein Building Game
• Ion: A Compound Building Game
• Covalence: A Molecule Building Game
• Virulence: An Infectious Card Game
• Cytosis: A Cell Biology Game
• Subatomic: An Atom Building Game
• Periodic: A Game of The Elements

We've also acquired the Artana brand, which has focused on moments and people in science history. It's a good corollary brand for us as people interested in science are interested in the history of science and luminaries as well, but it's distinct from the Genius Games brand which focuses on the natural processes themselves. The Artana line includes:

• Tesla vs. Edison: War of Currents
• Tesla vs. Edison: Duel (a lighter 2-player version)
• Einstein: His Amazing Life and Incomparable Science
• The New Science
• Speakeasy Blues
• Lovelace & Babbage (releasing Oct 16)