Dr. Beaker Speed Game Overview
It’s FINALLY summer! School is out and now comes the interesting part… hoping the kids don’t drive us (and each other) insane. In addition to normal chores, they’ll be practicing their instruments since they recently were accepted to the highest student level of the Quad City Symphony. They’ll be continuing to learn the responsibilities of adopting a puppy. Madison will be taking driver’s education (yikes!) and Kennedy will be attending summer cross country practices. They’ll also be playing games because that’s what we do for family entertainment.
Naturally, we like to include a variety of games to keep things interesting. I like cooperative games as well as anything with multiple or unique dice. Scott enjoys heavier strategy or abstract games. The girls appreciate a mix of all of these but thrive on games of speed and dexterity games. We play games even that we’re not good at because not everything is about winning. Playing games together is quality time. As a tribute to the end of the school year, we opted to play one with a science theme: Dr. Beaker from Blue Orange Games.
Setup is simple. Everyone gets a stir stick and a beaker filled with two of each color molecule. Cards are shuffled and placed in the center of the table for all to see. Notice the super fast setup process? It foreshadows how the game goes!
When everyone is ready, a challenge card is flipped to display an arrangement of molecules. The bottom platform of the beaker rotates so you’ll use your stirring rod to move it. Dr. Beaker is all about speed and your ability to relocate the molecules into the correct place within your beaker.
When you have everything correctly aligned, shout, “Eureka”. Once everyone has finished, cards are assigned as your reward. In a 4-player game, the winner is awarded three cards, 2nd gets two, 3rd receives one and last to finish doesn’t receive any. Depending on the number of players in the game and the order in which you finished, you’ll earn between 0-3 cards.
The only rule is that you must move the molecules from compartment to compartment. You’ll have to move quickly to get it all where it belongs before your opponents do, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Jumping over balls or walls is NOT allowed and as you rush to get them where they go, it’s likely to happen.
The first person to collect 10 challenge cards wins. While this set of rules is simple and easy for everyone to follow, there are rules variations that will allow you to mix things up a bit helping to keep the game fresh. You can load up on your lab supplies directly from Blue Orange Games or pick up a copy on Amazon for under $19. See what else Blue Orange Games is brewing in their lab by following them on Facebook and Twitter.
What was your favorite thing to do in science class?
You are right about the “insane” part, summer is a difficult time with kids for many parents. THis game seems to help! It’s educational, fun and seems to keep them entertained! Great price too.
Sounds like a fun science game with a bit of learning but disguised as fun, my favorite kind of game.
I love Blue Orange Games. I have a Dr. Eureka game from them, also with molecules. So much fun!
I’ll have to look into this further to see what age group it’s for (unless I missed it in your post). I love playing games that challenge the mind through puzzles 😀
What a fun game idea. I love beakers, they bring me back to high school in chemistry class! Ha. This would be loved in our home, will have to check into getting it.