MENDELEEV’S GARDEN: ALLA SCOPERTA DEGLI ELEMENTI DELLA TERRA E DELL’UNIVERSO

The Periodic Table of Elements is the fundamental tool used by chemists to understand the properties of the building blocks that make up all substances on our planet and in the entire universe. The aim of the game Mendeleev’s Garden is reaching Earth at the end of the path by navigating across natural elements in the Periodic Table, overcoming critical points along the way. Earth is both the starting and the ending point of the game: it is the only planet we have, and their resources are limited. The game board consists of three interwoven spirals, where each box represents a natural element, ranging from Hydrogen (1) to Uranium (92). Chemical elements exist in nature in varying quantities, and their use by humans is not uniform. Some elements are abundant and easy to obtain, while others are rare or difficult to extract. To highlight the criticality level of each element, the game board uses color-coded boxes, according to the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) Element Scarcity Periodic Table, to indicate their availability and sustainability over time. The game pieces represent twelve important scientists from the past, each of whom made groundbreaking discoveries, developed revolutionary theories, or introduced key insights that transformed our understanding of the world. The game Mendeleev’s Garden is freely inspired by the classic Goose Game and adapted by the author, and it is free available in Zenodo ICMATE community in Italian and in English [1,2]. Figure 1 shows the game board, pieces and question deck.