Elementary, My Dear

Anshul Samar is CEO of Alchemist Empire in Cupertino, California, and designer of Elementeo, a card game that brings chemistry to (surreal) life.

Samar has the eager, toothy smile of a 14-year-old. Oh, wait! He is a 14-year-old. Poloppo interviewed the fast-rising game-design star by e-mail about his creative process.

Poloppo: When did you first conceive of the Elementeo game?

Anshul Samar: I thought of Elementeo some time in elementary school. I always used to see kids interested in fantasy and fun and parents interested in learning and education. I wanted to combine those two worlds together in one action-packed, fun, educational game.

P: Have you thought of other games in the past?

AS: I haven't thought of many games in the past, but I've always been interested in forming companies. In second grade I wrote a story on how I will beat Microsoft, and in fourth I made a newspaper for my elementary school.

P: Do you draw? Have you ever drawn in the past?

AS: At one point I was oil painting and I took painting and cartooning classes in my summer break. In fact, in the very beginning prototypes, I had to hand-draw many card pictures. I then took a picture of them, uploaded them into my computer, edited them with free printing software, and then inserted them into the template.

P: Would you consider yourself to be evenly balanced between creative and scientific, left and right brain?

AS: I'm not really sure. First of all, science and creativity are those two types of things that are extremely similar but at the same time extremely different. I don't think you can compare them. In both creativity and science you have to think out of the box and solve problems. In both you have to create combat and conquer. And both of them you have to venture out and explore new possibilities. But then again, in some sense creativity is limitless, and science is related only to facts. Science comes from creativity and you think creatively in science. I don't think that really answers your question about how balanced I am... I really don't know. Maybe I am more creative.... I am always into thinking up of new ideas... it is what I love to do!

P: How highly do you value your creativity?

AS: First of all, without creativity the world would be a black-and-white photograph. There would be a pile of boredom in our lives, and color would be gone from every aspect. Creativity creates variety. Creativity causes new ideas, which create new technology and more things that can make our lives cooler and more enjoyable. Creativity is a gift that everyone has. If someone were to take creativity away from me that would be like taking the fish from the ocean and putting it in a small tank of water. Fun and excitement would disappear from my life. So yes, I value my creativity.

P: Do you consider creative development (especially the capacity to think "out of the box") to be an important part of your education?

AS: I think the more our schools can get me to think out of the box the better it is for me and for the whole world. The schools do a great job of creative development with projects and math. Out-of-the-box thinking allows people to find those hidden solutions in the corners of their minds to solve problems from disease to technology.

P: Do you have other games in mind for development once Elementeo takes off?

AS: There are many logical extensions of Elementeo, but I'll keep that as a surprise.  : )