This is a wonderful little game to play every day, as you can get a reasonable amount of NPs for very little effort initially. The point of the game is to build molecules from the atoms you are given. At the start of most levels, you are told which molecules you can make and how many points they are worth, and which new atoms are introduced on this level. Below are the atoms and molecules for the first seven levels to help you get started.
Level One: Neopium (Green) Earn one point by joining two of these together on the grid. (N-N)
Level Two: Tyrannium (Blue) Earn two points by making a chain of two Neopium atoms with one of these in the middle. (N-T-N)
Level Three: Earn two points by making a chain of three Tyrannium atoms. (T-T-T)
Level Four: No new atoms or molecules.
Level Five: Earn four points by making a chain of five Tyrannium atoms. (T-T-T-T-T) This is tricky, because the T-T-T combination from Level Three is still active, meaning chains of three will count as a molecule put two T-T combinations together with one box between them, and join them in the middle to make T-T-T-T-T.
Level Six: Slothite (Red) Earn four points by making a chain of N-S-S-N.
Level Seven: You are warned that a chain of four Slothite atoms is unstable. Making this combination will make the grid explode, and results in Game Over.
The game gets much harder and more complicated after Level Seven, with more atoms, molecules and unstable combinations being added. The most important thing to remember is that all the combinations you are given remain active throughout the game for example, if you put an N-N combination together in Level Eight, it still forms a molecule worth one point, just as in Level One. The real problem however, is the unstable combination introduced in Level Seven there is a large S-S-S-S-S-S-S chain later on in the game, that must be made without making a chain of four. For this, as explained for Level Five, you simply make two halves and join them in the middle, i.e. two S-S-S combinations with a box in the middle can be joined with a single Slothite atom to make the chain and get the points. If you need reminding of the combinations at any point, there is a box to the right of the grid that displays all the previous combinations as well as the current one.
Sounds easy so far? Well it is, apart from one thing that is pretty much irrelevant until you hit the higher levels you have a limited number of atoms per level. Once you get to making large chains, keep an eye on the counter in the top left-hand corner, which tells you how many atoms you have left, and use your atoms carefully! The easiest way to conserve your atoms is to have a proper look at the grid before you start a level. There are atoms already there, and they are nearly always in the right place to make the molecule you have been given, so use them carefully, as you can usually make the current combination using only one or two atoms.
Finally, once you have played past Level Six, every time you start the game, you will be given the option to start at Level Six. Whether you do or not is entirely up to you, but bear in mind that Chemistry For Beginners has a 100np-100point ratio, meaning that if you score 131 points (as I just did flicking through the levels to write this guide), you get 131nps, so if youre playing for NPs, play all the levels, because if you start on Level Six, you start with a score of 0, and miss out on an average of 110nps. Do this, and even if youre not brilliant at it, you can make 1500nps everyday at it!
Have fun playing! 🙂