An idle/incremental game inspired by Zac's love of science, themed around mining the periodic table of elements.
Play: https://ben0551.github.io/periodic-miner/
Elements unlock left to right across the periodic table by atomic number: H → He → Li → Be → ... Each element requires enough of the previous element to unlock.
- Click an element cell to mine it manually and see a fun fact
- Buy Drills in the left panel — drills auto-mine continuously
- Drill costs are paid in the previous element (He drills cost H, Li drills cost He, etc.)
Noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr…) generate Protons passively as they mine. Protons are spent on Research upgrades in the right panel.
Three tabs in the right panel:
| Tab | What it does |
|---|---|
| Available | Upgrades you can buy (with Protons ± element costs) |
| Reactions | Chemical reactions that fire automatically when you accumulate the right elements |
| Purchased | Your upgrade history |
When you've mined enough of the right elements, a reaction fires automatically:
- Reagents are consumed from your stockpiles
- You receive a Proton bonus
- A permanent production multiplier is applied forever
Example: 500 H + 250 O → Water (H₂O) → +150 Protons, Hydrogen mines 25% faster permanently
Once you've unlocked every element in the current Period, the Nobel Reset button activates. Using it:
- Resets that period's elements (stockpiles and drills go back to zero)
- Grants a permanent production multiplier (×1.5 for Period 1, ×2.0 for Period 2, etc.)
- Unlocks the next Period — you can't reach Period 2 without resetting Period 1
Earlier periods keep running throughout — you only lose the period you're resetting.
Don't want to grind a full period? Proton Prestige lets you reset mid-period for a ×1.3 multiplier:
- Cost: 750,000 Protons
- Effect: Reset current period + ×1.3 permanent boost
- Available anytime — no period completion required
Use this to break up mid-game grinding and power through plateaus.
Complete all elements in a periodic table column (group) to unlock a ×1.2 production multiplier. Bonuses stack multiplicatively, so completing 3 groups = ×1.728 total boost.
Click any element to explore:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Quiz | Identify elements by symbol/name or reactions by formula. Earn +2 Protons per correct answer, +5 for streaks! |
| Shells | Electron shell configuration for any element |
| Timeline | Discovery history of all 118 elements by century |
Heavy elements (Po through Cm) slowly transmute into lighter ones passively, creating a secondary production chain.
Mid-game Proton dumps to accelerate progression:
| Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Element Synthesis | 200,000 P | Instantly unlock one locked element (repeatable) |
| Production Overdrive | 100,000 P | All elements ×10 for 60 seconds |
Choose from 7 vibrant themes using the dropdown in the top bar:
- Cave (Dark) — Default dark blue aesthetic
- Torch (Amber) — Warm orange cave vibe
- Plasma (Neon) — Electric green lab
- Hydro (Ocean) — Deep ocean blue
- Carbon (Forest) — Earthy green
- Solar (Yellow) — Bright warm gold
- High Contrast — Pure black/white for accessibility
Theme preference persists across sessions.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Click element | Mine manually + see fact |
| Click splash | Dismiss discovery popup |
| Theme dropdown | Switch themes anytime |
Designed for 1+ week playtime. Each period takes exponentially longer:
| Period | Elements | Approx. time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | H, He | ~1 hour |
| 2 | Li → Ne | ~3–6 hours |
| 3 | Na → Ar | ~1–2 days |
| 4 | K → Kr | ~3–4 days |
| 5+ | … | Much longer |
Pure HTML/CSS/JavaScript — no frameworks, no build step. Open index.html via a local server:
cd periodic-miner
python -m http.server 8080
# then open http://localhost:8080Or use the VS Code Live Server extension.
betabranch — active development (merged to master after testing)masterbranch — stable, served via GitHub Pages- Save format:
localStoragekeyperiodic-miner-save - Debug console helpers:
Game.wipe(),Upg.protons += 9999,Res.maxUnlockedPeriod = 3
- 7-theme system with persistence
- Proton Prestige for mid-game resets
- Quiz system with longest-streak tracking
- Element Synthesis and Production Overdrive upgrades
- Educational feedback toasts for quiz answers
- Radioactive decay and group bonuses
- Reaction system with electronegativity and rarity mechanics
(Add screenshots here once the UI is stable)
Built with Claude Code.