Thirteen is the new twenty five
It seems there are more and more of these teenagers authoring hits, starting companies or otherwise taking matters into their own hands when they find things that don’t work for them. But this one is the best of all; a kid who took his frustration with chemistry class and turned it into a game that he unveiled at TieCon alongside the Marc Benioff, Tim O’Reilly and other veterans. You should really watch this kid do his elevator pitch. But here are some quotes from the VentureBeat story:
Samar argues that textbooks are boring and kids would rather spend their time battling enemies, blowing things up with bombs, and yes, even giving their opponents lead poisoning. So he created a fantasy role playing game that combines the rapturous teenage joys of competition and carnage with the exciting properties of the periodic table of chemical elements.
Here’s how the game works: You command an army of chemical elements, compounds and catalysts — represented within a 66-card deck (the fire and brimstone card at left is for “Sulfur,” for example). Your opponent has his own deck with the same number of cards. Your goal is to battle your competitor and reduce his IQ down to zero. Pit your oxygen card against your opponent’s iron card, for example, and you learn that you create rust. Score one for oxygen. Kind of like rock-paper-scissors, but with chemicals, dice and 66 impressively illustrated cards featuring monster-themed caricatures of chemicals.
Perhaps geek parents are the new stage mothers.
Aside: I should mention that ikram-zidane, the designer of this blog theme, is a brilliant designer at the tender age of sixteen.