LearnLearn Guide for parents
What is Elemon? A parent's guide to the periodic table card game
Elemon is a periodic table card game you play online, in a browser. All 118 chemical elements are monster cards, and every move a card can make is named for a true science fact. There is nothing to buy, no account and no ads.
I'm Yuriy, a dad, and I built Elemon for my two sons. They love the monster card games kids already trade, and I got tired of hearing them learn hundreds of made-up creature names. I figured if they were going to memorize words anyway, they might as well be real ones: sodium, chlorine, helium, iron. This guide is what I'd want to know as a parent before handing it over, and it's the one to start with among the Elemon guides for parents.
What is Elemon, in one minute?
Elemon is a two-player card battle where each card is a real element and each move teaches one fact about it. Sodium, for example, is "the Salt Lamp". Its moves are Water Burst, Salt Bond and Orange Lamp, because bare sodium pops in water, it locks with chlorine to make table salt, and old street lamps full of hot sodium glow orange. Tap a move and the card shows the real reason behind it.
Every card has:
- Its real name, symbol and atomic number, like Na and 11 for Sodium.
- A battle type: one of nine, like Blast, Acid or Noble gas, based on where the element sits on the real periodic table.
- Three moves, each with a one-line "why" written for kids.
- Three stats (Toughness, Power and Speed) rated from real chemistry. Dense, sturdy metals are tough. Elements that react eagerly hit hard. Light atoms are fast.
You can browse every card in the Elemondex before playing, which is a good way to see whether your kid takes to it.
How do you play a match?
A match is five cards each, secret picks every round, and the first player to knock out three of the other side's cards wins. Here is how a match goes:
- Pick five cards. Take a random five (always five different types) or hand-pick any five elements.
- Choose a starter in secret. Neither side sees the other's first fighter until both are locked in.
- Pick in secret. Each round, both players choose one move or a switch to another card. Nobody sees the other's choice.
- Watch the round play out. Switches happen first, then moves. Faster elements usually act first.
- Faint three to win. When a card runs out of Toughness it faints, and its player sends in the next one.
There are nine types. Hitting a type you beat does double damage, like Blast against Life (reactive metals react violently with water) or Metal against Nuclear (lead blocks radiation), and some types resist others for half damage. Synthetic cards are wild: each hit rolls ×½, ×1 or ×2. There's a whole post on how the nine types line up with real element families, including which matchups are game rules.
Cards can also team up. Eight pairs are bond buddies, picked because the two elements really do join up in real life: hydrogen and oxygen (water), sodium and chlorine (table salt), iron and oxygen (rust), iron and carbon (steel), silicon and oxygen (sand), carbon and oxygen (carbon dioxide), hydrogen and chlorine (acid), and calcium and phosphorus (bone). Cards never merge into new cards. Put both buddies on your team and each one hits a little harder.
Who is Elemon for?
Elemon is made for elementary school kids. My rule of thumb: if your kid can play a monster trading card game, they can play Elemon. The rules are the same kind of thing: pick a team, read your moves, think about what the other player will do.
It also works for older kids who are starting chemistry and want the element names to stop feeling like a list. Parents play too, and I'd recommend it, at least for the first few matches.
| If your kid... | Start with |
|---|---|
| Is new to card battles | Solo practice on Easy |
| Knows card battles already | Solo practice on Normal |
| Wants a real challenge | Solo practice on Hard |
| Has a sibling or friend nearby | Play a friend, both on their own device |
The three solo levels are different opponents. Easy goes for big hits and never switches. Normal answers your obvious move. Hard looks two rounds ahead at every reply you could make. Solo tables are private: they never appear in the open tables list.
Is Elemon a free periodic table game you can play online?
Yes. Elemon runs in a web browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and there's nothing to download or install. Here are the practical facts parents usually ask about:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Cost | Nothing. There is no store, no coins and nothing to buy. |
| Account or sign-up | None. You type an optional nickname and play. |
| Ads | None. |
| Download | None. It's a website. |
| Analytics | The site uses Google Analytics to count visits, with Google signals and ad personalization turned off. |
| Chat | None. The only things players send are game moves. |
Is it safe for kids to play a friend online?
Play a friend has no chat, but it does show a table name and nicknames, so set it up together the first time. Here is exactly what happens:
- One player types a table name and opens a table.
- That table name appears in the Open tables list on the home page, which anyone visiting the site can see, until the second seat fills.
- The friend taps that table in the list, or types the same name.
- Each player's nickname (optional, up to 24 characters) is shown to the other player at the table. If you leave it blank, the game shows "Host" or "Challenger".
- Each table has exactly two seats and no spectators.
- When either player leaves or closes the tab, the table folds and its game data is deleted.
So my advice: pick a table name that isn't your kid's real name or school, use a nickname instead of a real name, and have the friend sit down right away. Because open tables are listed publicly, a stranger could take the empty seat first. If that happens, leave and open a new table. Even then, a stranger can only play cards; there is no way to send a message.
What will kids actually learn?
Kids pick up real element names, symbols and one or two true facts per element, plus a feel for the families on the periodic table. In practice that looks like:
- Names and symbols: Fe is Iron, Au is Gold, K is Potassium.
- Everyday connections: Helium floats balloons, Chlorine is the pool smell, Calcium is in bones.
- Families: the fizzy metals on the left, the salt-makers next to the right edge, and the gases that barely react on the far right.
- Compounds: in real life, water, salt and rust are two elements locked together, and the bond buddies point that out.
It won't teach electron shells or balancing equations, and it doesn't try to. Think of it as the vocabulary that makes the real lessons easier later. If you want a plan around it, read how to teach kids the periodic table without memorizing it.
Frequently asked questions
What age is Elemon for?
Elemon is built for elementary school kids. If your child can follow a monster trading card game, they can follow Elemon. Younger kids do best with a parent reading the move facts aloud.
Does Elemon cost anything?
No. There's nothing to buy, no in-game currency and no ads.
Do kids need an account?
No. There's no sign-up. The optional nickname is saved only in that browser tab, shown only to the other player at the table, and deleted with the table when the game ends.
Can strangers talk to my child in Elemon?
No. There is no chat of any kind. Players only send game moves. Open table names are visible to anyone on the site, so use a table name and nickname that don't identify your child.
How many elements are in the game?
All 118, from hydrogen to oganesson. Every one is a playable card in the Elemondex.
How long does a match take?
A match usually lasts around 14 rounds in our computer test games, and each round is one secret pick per player.
Ready to try it? Pull up a table and play, or start by browsing the Elemondex with your kid.