Ion: A Compound Building Game

About this board game

ION: A Compound Building Game is a card drafting game for 2–7 players that takes about 40 minutes to play. Players select Ion Cards and Noble Gas cards while building sets of compounds and inert noble gases.

At the start of a round, each player receives eight cards. Everyone selects one card, then passes the remaining cards. A selected card can be bonded by pairing it with another Element Card, or it can be set alone, potentially forming an ionic bond later in the game.

Players score based on the quantity and type of neutrally balanced compounds they construct, as well as the noble gas sets they collect. Compound Goal Cards add another route to points by listing specific compounds for players to build.

• Draft Ion Cards and Noble Gas cards.
• Pair Element Cards or set cards aside for later bonding.
• Build compounds listed on Compound Goal Cards.
• Use Action Tiles for additional moves, while considering their end-of-round cost.

Throughout the game, players have access to a set of Action Tiles that award additional moves. These tiles can help shape a developing collection, but the points from Action Tiles used are subtracted when final scores are calculated.

After three rounds, players add together their scores from each round and subtract the points from their used Action Tiles. The player with the highest total score wins. With its draft-and-pass structure, compound building, noble gas collection, and specific card goals, ION: A Compound Building Game brings several scoring opportunities together in one compact card game.