[Note: I received a free copy of this game in exchange for a fair, unbiased review. Due diligence, full disclosure, and all that.]

As a puzzle and game guy, people ask me for recommendations a lot. Sometimes, they like a particular type of puzzle or style of game play, but they want to try something new in that vein. Other times, they want to try a one-player puzzle or game experience, but in a group setting.

More and more, though, I get requests from parents and grandparents for puzzles and games that educate or reinforce learning without sucking all the fun out of playing.

And if you want a fun card game that mixes real-world science with chaotic, enjoyable gameplay, Chemistry Fluxx might be just what you’re looking for.

The latest edition of Fluxx from the designers at Looney Labs, Chemistry Fluxx takes an elementary approach to the game. Literally. You have to combine different elements in order to secure victory in this game.

For the uninitiated, Fluxx is a straightforward card game. You collect keeper cards and put them into play. Different combinations of keeper cards complete different goals, and each player has the chance to put different keeper cards and goal cards into play in order to win. So you might find yourself working toward completing the goal at hand when suddenly somebody plays a new goal, and the object of the game changes.

Along the way, players affect how the game is played by utilizing action cards and new rule cards which alter what players can and can’t do. Suddenly, you’ll have to trade your hand with another player, or start drawing three cards each turn instead of one.

But instead of matching images like you do in most versions of Fluxx, in Chemistry Fluxx players have to use keeper cards with elements or lab equipment on them in order to complete different compounds or procedures.

The subject of chemistry is a brilliantly appropriate fit for Fluxx. Elements are literally the building blocks of everything around us, so to make them the keepers and various molecules and compounds the goals of the game is seamless.

But the game’s creators didn’t stop there. They went all out with chemistry lab trappings, introducing new rule cards that reward you for actually wearing a lab coat during game, for speaking in a high voice when the Helium card is in play, or granting you bonus cards by testing your knowledge of chemistry.

The goal cards even display the actual elemental chains formed by these combinations of elements at the bottom, reinforcing the chemistry information on the cards and helping to build associations between the keeper cards and the compounds they form. It’s subliminal learning, which keeps the game fun while still offering chances for parents and families to encourage the young minds around them.

Chemistry Fluxx combines the best of education-based games and Looney Labs’ signature brand of madcap immersive gameplay to create a fun and accessible way to bring STEM concepts and learning home. Even if you’re just looking for a quick round of chaotic cards, you might find yourself learning anyway.

Chemistry Fluxx will be available May 25, but you can preorder it from Looney Labs by clicking here! And to check out all of our reviews of Looney Labs games and products, click here!

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