What is Big Magnet Games trying to accomplish?

Big Magnet Games is a company on a mission build and develop literacy and fluency in chemistry through card and tabletop games! Games can be powerful learning tools for students. Big Magnet Games focuses primarily on short games that can be used in the classroom setting, or that can be played by students outside of class as part of their revising process. Our hope is that as students and educators use our games, their study and review time might be more memorable and a bit more fun!

Who is behind Big Magnet Games?

Founder, Game Designer, artist and AMATEUR Cheesemaker
Theresa Gaines (t gaines)

delta state university (assistant professor)
Dixie State University (Teaching Postdoctoral Fellow)
gEORGIA STATE uNIVERSITY (m.s. and Ph.d.)
uNIVERSITY OF nOTRE dAME (b.s.)
Organic Chemistry

Theresa Gaines is currently completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Dixie State University. Between her work and other responsibilities she makes games, many of which you can find on this very website! She has a deep fascination with games as learning tools for building fluency with chemistry-related vocabulary and concepts! If you wish to read more about her, please click here. Don't be a stranger and shoot an email to: info@bigmagnetgames.com. She also blogs about cheesemaking on occasion.

Producer and Distributor
The Game Crafter

Madison, WI
Game Makers

All Big Magnet Games are produced and distributed through "The Game Crafter." The Game Crafter produces and prints the games as they are ordered. They make sure to pay great attention to detail and will get your new game to you safe and sound! 

Answering some simple questions

You might have some questions about the name and branding of Big Magnet Games. Let's talk about that!

The legacy of "The Big Magnet."

There are a lot of magnets that can be described as big. But the "Big Magnet" of Big Magnet games refers to a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer. This machine is used to help characterize a compound. Which is useful. If you make new compounds that have never been made before (like I did for my Ph.D.), you'd better have proof that it is what you say it is! Because the machine is rather large it has it's own special room. I had a lot of compounds to run through this machine and spent a considerable amount of time in the NMR room while finishing up my Ph.D. Sometimes I would message some friends to pass the time in the NMR room. Even though I explained what NMR was, they never remembered the name until I used the phrase "big magnet." 

From there, when I would leave to go to the NMR room, they would message me "All Hail the Big Magnet," "Are you visiting the Big Magnet? Send us a picture" or "Tell the Big Magnet we say hi." It became a thing. 

More importantly, though. The first few games that I ever created started as ideas in the NMR room. Now some of those games are finally in print! It's crazy. But I wanted to pay homage to the Big Magnet by immortalizing it, in the name of this company.

Why Radishes? 

They are super cute! I firmly believe that radishes are the cutest vegetable bar none!

The more honest answer, is that I initially drew the the art myself for all of the branding. And the only thing that I'm really good at drawing, is radishes. It's weird, I know. But at least they are cute! 

Follow up question: So why didn't you just name the company 'Radish Games' or 'Big Radish Games.' 

I kinda picked up the name 'Big Magnet Games' before I decided to do the art myself. So then I just gave the radishes magnets. Still cute and it works!