Game
Critical Mass
Guess the science term before the reaction goes critical.
Critical Mass is science hangman for the browser. You are stabilizing a live experiment. Each wrong letter raises a risk meter. Six misses and containment fails (stylized — not gore, not a textbook scare). Fill every letter and the reaction settles.
Play: /play/critical-mass/. Built for scientists and the science-curious. The game stays free. Optional studio support helps fund the next protocol.
This is not Plankwalk in a lab coat. Same letter-guessing spine, different fail state, and a Fact Card after every round so a miss still teaches the term.
One username
Tap Sign in on the menu. The same name you use in Plankwalk or The Chart Room carries your lab notes. Guest play still saves on this device. Reagents stay in this game; doubloons from the plank do not spend here.
How to play
- A science term is dealt. The category chip is visible from the first screen — use it.
- Type or tap letters A–Z.
- Correct letters reveal every matching slot. Repeats do not raise risk.
- Each unique wrong letter fills one pip on the risk meter (maximum six).
- Reveal the full term before the meter hits critical mass.
Scientist puzzles use full names (for example Marie Curie) with a gap between words. Spaces are not guessed; they show as a break in the row.
After a win or a loss you get a Fact Card: short definition plus field. Read it, then play again. The card never blocks the next-run button.
Power-ups
- Hint — reveals a letter (one free per run, then reagents).
- Solvent — clears two letters that are not in the term (costs reagents).
- Reagents are local soft currency. You earn them by stabilizing runs, clearing Daily, and keeping a streak.
Mute and reduced-motion live in Settings. The lab log stores recent Fact Cards on the device.
Modes and packs
| Mode | What it is |
|---|---|
| Classic | Unlimited time. Random terms from the active packs. |
| Daily Hypothesis | One shared term per UTC day. Same puzzle for everyone that date. |
| Protocol Charts | Not a separate hangman. A classified floor plan you ink by playing the modes above. |
Classic draws across Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Earth, Astronomy, Math, Methods, Systems, Scientists, and Historic Minds. Historic Minds terms match the YouTube series — Marie Curie, Love Canal, Krakatoa 1883, and seeds for films that have not shipped yet. Fact Cards on live-episode words may name the film.
There is no timer in the current build. (A Chain Reaction / Storm-style climb is a later idea, not live.)
Protocol Charts
The Chart Room already inks pirate maps. A second Sudoku voyage in a lab coat would have split this game. Protocol Charts is a piece of the lab, not a second title.
The classified floor plan sits on the main menu. You fill it with the verbs you already came to do:
- Solvent Bench (4 plates) — Classic wins
- Half-Life (6 plates) — first Daily Hypothesis win that UTC day
- Core Assembly (6 plates) — a clean run (zero or one miss)
Tap a wing to see the scrap. Finish all sixteen plates and this device stamps Isotope. Same studio handshake as Cartographer in Plankwalk — no shared wallet, no cloud merge of currencies.
The hangman stays the game. The atlas is why you open the lab tomorrow.
Tips
- Read the category before the first guess. “Astronomy” and “Methods” are different alphabets in practice.
- Common letters still work (E, R, S, T, A, I, N, O), but science words love suffixes: -tion, -logy, -meter, -ide. If the pattern is
_ _ A T I O N, stop spraying consonants and think of the root. - Scientists names: treat the gap as a gift. First-letter guesses on both words pay more than they do in a single token.
- Daily Hypothesis is one board. If you want the shared result, do not burn Hint and Solvent on a throwaway Classic first unless you have reagents to spare.
- Core Assembly wants a clean run. Play Classic when you are awake; save the zero-miss attempt for a category you actually know.
- After a loss, read the Fact Card. The next Classic deal is random, but the log is how the science sticks.
Related
- Plankwalk — pirate hangman on the plank
- The Chart Room — pocket Sudoku, Widow’s Wake, Cartographer stamp
- Historic Minds — the films some of these terms are drawn from
- Process: Building Critical Mass
Credits
Lab UI and game design: JabMed Media. Visuals: Grok Imagine. Music: Suno Pro @JoeyJabs22. Build: Vite / TypeScript.
JabMed Media is a division of JabMed Holdings LLC. The lab is entertainment. Fact Cards are short definitions, not a course, not medical advice, and not a substitute for a textbook.
Questions: contact or media@jabmedholdings.com.