If we ask about a famous Polish woman who made her mark in history with great achievements, the first person who comes to mind is Marie Skłodowska-Curie. And it is precisely about her that we want to write today, as we now have a game that presents her life and work in chronological order. In the Footsteps of Marie Curie is a design by Florian Fay, published in Poland by Rebel.
Gameplay
In the game, you play as scientists working alongside the famous Nobel laureate in her lab to extract new elements from pitchblende—specifically uranium and radium. Each player has their player board, with space for flasks and beakers, and future scientific papers to work on. To gather the raw materials needed for research, you use a special dice tower, which reflects the difficulties of extracting and separating the elements.
The number of black, gold, and silver dice you put into the tower is not always equal to the number you get out, introducing risk and surprise—experiments can yield unexpected results.
On your turn, you try to obtain pitchblende dice, uranium, and radium; process them (for example, two black dice can be transformed into one uranium die); and carry out experiments using laboratory vessels. These allow increasing the capacity of your flasks so that in future turns you can collect more resources. Additionally, for a fee you can purchase activity cards, which, when you have enough, grant extra resources and victory points.
Another available action is writing scientific papers — these give rewards too, and if you have the proper goal tile (each player gets a hidden goal), completing it brings additional benefits.
Throughout the game you combine gathering cards, managing resources, developing the lab — all to score as many points as possible by the end.
Review
One aspect worth noting is the thematic background of the game. The main board serves not only as a “storage” for potential points, but also as a chronological timeline that depicts Skłodowska-Curie’s life — from birth to eventual death. You can learn about the most important stages and events in her life, and also see scientific terminology; all of this is explained in detail in a separately attached Biography and in the game’s explanatory materials.
The game In the Footsteps of Marie Curie clearly has an educational dimension, spreading knowledge about the famous physicist and chemist, who was the first — and so far only — woman to receive two Nobel Prizes.
Mechanically, the game doesn’t introduce very many innovations, though the dice tower is an interesting way to represent the challenges the Curie couple faced in their experiments.
Putting the historical aspect aside, the game is a light euro-style game based on hand management and contracts. Players can gather and convert resources, and also improve their ability to collect and store resources by developing their laboratory. Cards offer various bonuses depending on their number. Players also have a mild way to speed up the pace of the game by choosing actions marked with a clock.
There is almost no direct interaction between players. The game works about the same regardless of how many people are playing. However, with two or three players, the game tends to feel more lively because there’s less waiting on others.
Conclusion
In the Footsteps of Marie Curie, as another game in the series (following In the Footsteps of Darwin), has the potential to find a place on the shelf of family-friendly games that teach while entertaining—and possibly to inspire younger generations to aim high.