Game Review – Organic Soup

Organic Soup
Number of Players	2 - 4
Play Time	40 Minutes
Ages	12 Years and up

I came across this game after I played Compounded.  One of the people who played Compounded with me said that he had another game that was similarly themed and that he would bring it to the next event so we could give it a try.

True to his word, he brought a game called Organic Soup.  Organic Soup is a card game in which the players collect cards to create chemicals and chemical reactions with the goal of creating life.

The players start the game with a set of chemicals they can create, one simple, one complex, and one amino nucleic.  In addition there are basic chemicals available for creation already face up on the table.  In addition there are 12 face up atom cards on the table from the atom deck. 

The players take turns either collecting carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen or oxygen atoms from 12 face up cards in the center of the table to create any chemical that is face up on the table or use atom from reaction in front of them to place a recipe from their hand down in front of them.  In addition when they are creating a new chemical they may steal unprotected atom and reactions from one other player in order to complete a recipe they a lying down.  Once a player creates his chemical reaction, if it is equal to or larger than the set of that reaction that another player has, her can control that recipe and lock the atoms he uses for that recipe from being stolen by other players for their chemical reaction.  If the player plays down one of the recipes from his hand, he replenishes it from the draw deck. 

The trick to the game is that a player must control a lesser recipe in order to build a greater recipe.  In other words he must control a basic recipe in order to be able to build a simple recipe, a simple recipe in order to be able to build a complex recipe and a complex recipe in order to build an amino nucleic.  The chain may be broken so a player can build a complex recipe as long as he has control of a simple recipe even if he loses his basic recipe.

The game ends when there are no more atoms in the deck to place out or when a player creates the first amino nucleic acid.  In the instance that a player makes the amino nucleic, that player wins.  In the instance that atom deck runs out of cards.  The person who owns the most of the highest number of recipes that is not a tie wins.

I found this game to be fun.  It can be played quickly.  We were able to complete all of the games we played in less than thirty minutes.

If you are looking for a game where people can learn things, this is a great tool for learning different chemical compounds as all of the compounds in the game are real and the pictures on the cards are accurate description of the chemical makeup of the compounds.  It would be a great game to introduce to a high school chemistry class to help them learn the chemical formulas.

How does Organic Soup compare to Compounded?  Organic Soup has a similar feel in theme.  The competitive part of the game is slightly different.  In the case of Compounded the competition is centered on claiming compounds before you create them.  In Organic Soup you are competing to control compounds that have been created.  Organic Soup also plays a lot quicker than Compounded.   You can get 2 – 3 games of Organic Soup done in the time it takes to play Compounded.

The drawback is that the game is available only as a print and play from Game Crafters so the price point is a little hefty for a card game at $24.99, but if you like abstract or set collecting card games or want to get a game that can be education, it would be well worth the money.