What Did We Learn?

At Hyper Bio Games, we aim to create games that teach core science concepts in extremely fun ways. We avoid elements that will make our game constantly teach and lose what makes a game fun, or creating games are tons of fun, but involve information that is not integrated. We absolutely do not want players to walk away wondering what the game was actually about. According to a recent focus group (i.e. my housemates) Hyper Helixes integrates "information with intriguing design."

Hyper Helixes aims to teach many advanced topics. A integral concept in Hyper Helixes is the structure and properties of amino acids. The structures of the amino acids are clearly displayed on the front of the card along with two other commonly tested bits of information: the three letter abbreviation and
the one letter abbreviation for amino acids. Also on the front of the amino acid cards is a colorful design which indicates the category of the amino acid. The  background colors, red, orange, yellow and teal correspond to the characteristics of  the amino acids, acidic, basic, nonpolar and polar.

The chymotrypsin and trypsin cards teach the importance of proteases specificity. In Hyper Helixes, you gain points by collecting amino acid cards
by "cutting" a stack with a protease. The two proteases in Hyper Helixes are chymotrypsin and trypsin. Chymotrypsin cuts after aromatic amino acids and in Hyper Helixes these amino acid cards are indicated by a purple boarder to match the background of the chymotrypsin card. Trypsin cuts after the basic amino acids arginine and lysine which, just as with chymotrypsin, have borders that match the green trypsin card.                                                                                                                                                                                    The point system is designed to teache the common structure of collagen. When a player collects a stack of amino acid cards with a sequence of glycine-proline-hydroxyproline, which is the most common amino acid sequence in collagen, the player is rewarded with 5 extra points. If a player collects three stacks of amino acid cards, the player has collected three alpha chains which make up the collagen helix and all of the players positive points are tripled.

All of the above points were highly emphasized in my required biochemistry class.In the class, questions around these topics were worth over thirty points on exams (talk about collage readiness).

 Through playing Hyper Helixes, I hope that children of all ages will not only learn biology and chemistry but will develop a love for science at and a curiosity which inspires them to study and discover more about the world around them. 

Get Excited About Science Education

Welcome to Hyper Bio Games Inc.!  At our company (which is just my sister and I . . . )  we are excited about teaching science in ways that will enthuse kids and adults as well as raising support for education all around the world. 

All the proceeds from Hyper Bio Games for the next five months will go to support the Agape Academy which is affiliated with Agape House New Testament Church located in Accra, Ghana. Hyper Helixes can be purchased on my Etsy shop. Currently, The Agape House has one building for the children's home and school. My goal is to raise $15,000 (which is equivalent to selling about 5,000 games) to support their project of building a separate building for their school. 

This project is personally import to me because on my 13th birthday, much to my delight, my mom's friend sponsored a child for me at Agape Children's Home. For years I received letters from a little boy telling me how much he appreciated me and all I was doing, even though I wasn't doing that much. Now In a reverse kind of way, I would like to give back to the sweetest lady who sponsored the child in my name by helping Agape build their school. 

No matter if where you went to school or if you are a first grader, teacher, homeschooler, or grandparent I would love to give you more information on Hyper Helixes and other upcoming projects. I also enjoy coming to speak to classes or groups of any size. Simply send an e-mail to hyperbiogames@gmail.com and put "come visit us" in the subject line and as soon as possible I'll meet you with a PowerPoint, interactive activities, and enthusiasm for science and philanthropy.  

P.S. I have always wanted to be the entertainment at a birthday party. If your son or daughter's special day is coming up soon and you are looking for unique entertainment, keep my life long wish in mind!