Variation – A DNA Matching Card Game – Ages 8+, 2-4 Players, STEM Learning Game About Genetics, Multiple Ways to Play, Fun for Kids, Teens, Families, and Teachers

Super-fun game that helps students retain information. There are multiple game variations. Each game is easy to learn. There is definitely a high education value in this product.

If all learning was this fun, we'd all be a lot smarter! I don't home school, but suspect this would be a good tool.

This is a fun DNA matching card game that I use with my middle school science class. The kids seem to like it. The directions were not as clear as I thought and I had to explain it to them, but that is OK once they understood how to match the cards they begin to have fun. I set them up in smaller groups of four and they played against teams who can match the DNA the fastest a nice learning lesson

This is a good tool for classroom reinforcement and just a surprisingly versatile game. Can I just say it’s great that a game modeled and named after the variations of the pieces of DNA has so many included variations of gameplay? If I can throw in a joke- it’s clearly intelligently designed. ;)The game itself is mostly comprised of cards of the 4 parts of DNA, A T C and G. The matching pairs have inverted borders (blue and green for adenine and thymine and red and yello for guanine and cytosine)I’ve included the cards laying out the different varieties of gameplay so you can see what would work best for your class and how it’s worth picking this up, but for a quick overview:- variation 1 is like slamwich, or war- variation 2 is memory- variation 3 is go fish- but you make groups of four instead of just a match- variation 4 is like rummy in that all players are building off of each other on the table, but is simpler and more fast paced.- variation 5 is like hand and foot, where each player draws from another players discard, trying to build on the sequence on the table- variation 6 adds rules and goals for variation 5- variation 7 is 6 and 5- but the sequence is backwards.Like DNA itself, the building blocks are there and you could come up wi th bevel more good combinations.This game fits snugly in a double thickness deck of cards (it’s 100 cards instead of 52) box. So it’s super compact.A compact game with so much versatility and learning potential on the fundamentals of DNA sequencing? It’s a no brainer.

DNA biology was something I really struggled with in college. I was kind of hoping that when I got this game, I would understand DNA better from playing the game, but initially I was mostly just even more confused. I wasn't confused on how to play the games, after all, they are simply variations of games that are standard card games, such as War and Go Fish. No, I was confused on how it all related to DNA. I was also confused by the purple cards that players use for reference. I thought that the pictures and information had something to do with the letters and was trying to make a connection there that didn't exist. Fortunately my husband understands this subject better than I do. He spent some time with me, and between that and knowing what to watch for when I revisited their tutorial videos, I started to understand it better.All of the games are about matching T to A, A to T. G to C, and C to G. That's what is being reinforced in the game play. The purple game cards contain interesting tidbits about DNA, but you don't need to be able to read and understand them to play the game.I like these cards as a manipulative to reinforce science lessons about DNA. I also think it's made by a great company that has put together some amazing resources for learning more. That was a rabbit hole that was useful for me. The artwork on the box and the cards are all credited and there was a lot of love and passion that were put into the game, and I think that's pretty cool and I applaud them for it. I'll be watching their company to see what else they might come up with.

I though this set of cards would be interested to play, but in reality, you just use the ATGC cards to play card games very similar to Go Fish, Memory, Slap War, Sorting, etc. The 12 DNA sequencing cards are the most interesting part of the set...there are a few assorted interesting facts. The good part is that the cards are bright and made well. But overall, this card game is just a multi-purpose decks of cards with some science added.

I’m a homeschooling mom of kids ages 3-17 and we play a LOT of educational games. I think this one is a great supplement to a study of biology for almost any age. The game play is simple enough for my 6-year-old while the older kids can learn principles of how DNA is structured and combined.The deck is really quite simple– a large set of only 4 different cards. I like how the colors coordinate for each of the base pairs so you can immediately know which ones go together. There is also a small set of sequence cards. With these components, there are rules to play several different games.I like that the games are played in short rounds so there are natural stopping places– we never have as much time to play as we’d like, so long games don’t get a lot of play at our house.The cards are good and sturdy– not cheap and flimsy like some. I like that the directions for the games are written on cards the same size as the decks, so that all the cards (instructions included) can be stored in one card box. This makes it easy to throw it in a bag or purse and take it to an appointment, co-op, or a trip. The instructions are clear and well-written (native English).

It does feel like a relatively simplistic game and the facts on the cards help do some learning at the same time as play. It’s ok, as it’s a lot of repetitive facts, it could be better.