Helium: Its Synthesis with Elementary Particles from the Deck

This paper describes an educational game—a particle physics Gedanken experiment—where synthesis of helium from elementary particles is performed. The Introduction section presents some of the physics background concerning elementary particles and atomic nuclei. The Material and Methods section explains what is needed for play. The Discussion section describes the rules. Aficionados of the game are welcome to contact the first author with feedback and for a modified version of the rules that also takes the important property of particle spin into consideration.