Mad Scientist Party Game

Ever wanted to be a mad scientist and make your own crazy concoctions? Well this fun science experiment inspired party game may just be the most fun you have this Halloween! It incorporates chemical reactions with prizes in two different games that are fun for all ages!

Two Different Mad Scientist Games

Ever since people went crazy over our Ghostbuster Halloween punch game, I’ve been trying to come up with some other simple games that give you prizes based on what you choose.

Think the pick a sucker game or the duck game where the color on the bottom of the duck is the prize you win.

This mad scientist potion game started as just that and one of the variations of the game is just that – whatever potion you get is the prize you get. But I also expanded it to turn it into something that works great for classrooms and kids where you want a real game instead of just a prize picking mechanism!

Both games start with the same concept of people taking turns making a potion and being surprised by the color potion they get. You decide if you want to play the full matching game or just give out prizes based on the color depending on what you’re using this game for!

Supplies

Both games use the same base supplies. The matching game will add in matching cards and bingo markers!

Supply notes

I’ve included notes about anything specific you need to play and my recommendations for them based on what we used below!

• Powdered food coloring – it has to be powder or else it’ll ruin the experiment. Make sure to use colors that are very distinct from each other. I used pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, black, and brown on our match cards (and this set has all of those), but you can do less colors if you aren’t doing the matching. Don’t go with other variations like gray or teal or lime green. You want people to know immediately what color their reaction is.
• Clear test tube set – I used this one and it was great. It comes with 50 clear plastic test tubes plus the holder, which is important for the game.
• Droppers – while you can technically just use the same dropper over and over again, I highly recommend just getting a set of plastic droppers so you can have them pre-filled with vinegar that can just be added. Less mess, plus if someone accidentally gets colored potion in their dropper, you don’t have to wash it out.
• Dark colored tape – masking tape, duct tape, whatever works. It just needs to be dark enough that you can’t see through to the bottom of the test tubes.
• Labels – literally you just need anything to label your prize buckets so people know what prize bucket to choose out of! I used post-it notes since I’m so fancy.
• Match game cards – if you are going to play the matching game, you can download the matching games at the end of this post or grab them in my shop!
• Bingo markers – you can use anything you want. I have a set that I use for all of my bingo games all the time!
• Prizes – The prizes you go with will depend on which game you play and who you’re playing with! I’ve explained the prizes in each of the game sections!

Mad Scientist Potion Prize Picking game

That’s quite the mouthful isn’t it? The game itself is so simple and honestly was one of my family’s favorite Halloween party games we played because of the element of chance and surprise!

Set Up Your Mad Science Prize Lab

For this game, first you need to choose how many different colors you’re going to add to your science lab (e.g., test tubes). I recommend at least six and no more than the nine colors I mentioned in the supply notes. Each color will be associated with a different level and type of prize.

Once you choose your colors, choose how many of each color you’re going to add to your test tubes. I set it up so that colors that were more scarce won better prizes. For example if you’re using the 50 test tube set I recommended, you could do something like this:

• 1 yellow = grand prize (e.g., $50 bill)
• 3 orange = mega prizes (e.g., $20 bills)
• 6 pink = large prizes (e.g., $5 gift cards)
• 10 green = medium prizes (e.g., movie theater boxes of candy)
• 13 blue = small prize (e.g., chapsticks, $1 bills, etc.)
• 17 black = mini prizes (e.g., individual pieces of candy)

If you’re doing 9 different colors, here’s how I’d split it. Just start with 1 grand prize for the yellow and keep the value of the prizes going down as you go.

• 1/2/3/4/5/6/8/10/11

Once you’ve chosen your colors and prizes that go with each of them, put the prizes on a table or in buckets somewhere with labels that show the color associated with each.

Then it’s time to fill up your test tubes. Add a tiny bit of baking soda (I did maybe 1/4 teaspoon) into each of the test tubes. Then carefully add a tiny amount of the powder food coloring into the test tubes along with the baking soda. The colors should be added based on what you decided earlier.

For example if you’re doing one yellow test tube, add yellow food coloring to one single test tube and black food coloring to 17.

Continue adding food coloring and baking soda to each test tube until they’re all filled.

Finally, add a layer of dark tape all the way around the test tube holder so that you cannot see the baking soda and colored powder in the test tubes. You could also waste time taping around each individual test tube like I did, but I don’t recommend it. There are much better ways to spend your time!

Once that’s done, I highly recommend putting the entire test tube holder into a 9×13 (or larger) baking dish or something similar to catch any of the overflow potion. It’s going to happen.

Lastly, fill all of the droppers about 1/2 full of white vinegar and place them in a cup next to the test tube holder to finish setting up the game! I recommend having a disposal cup as well for empty vinegar droppers as well.

How to play the mad scientist prize game

Now that your game is setup, it’s time to play! You can do this in one of two ways.

First, you can just let people come up and take turns playing and winning prizes OR you can ask them some sort of Halloween trivia questions or true or false statements like we did with our web of lies Halloween game (you could even use our Halloween Jeopardy questions if you want) and if they get it correct, they get to choose a beaker.

Regardless, whenever it’s time for someone to take a turn, they simply come up, pick a dropper filled with vinegar, and squeeze the vinegar into their chosen test tube. No looking into the test tubes first because that would ruin the fun!

Whatever color reaction comes up when they add the vinegar is the color of prize they win! If you want this to be a one and done thing, they go pick their prize and are done. If you want everyone to be able to keep playing, they can get back in line after they choose their prize!

Then the next person comes up and does the exact same thing. Keep going until everyone has had a turn or if you want to go through until all the test tubes are used (or until there aren’t enough for everyone to have another turn), you can do that too.

Who Is This Game best For?

• Best Ages: This one is best for ages 8+ or anyone who won’t be upset that someone is winning a prize that could be substantially better than theirs. Anyone can play the game, the maturity comes in with handling the prizes!
• Group size: You can play this with any size group up until 50 people if you really want since the test tube set has 50 tubes!
• People who like surprises: If your group likes prizes and winning based on chance, kind of like this Oogie Boogie Wheel of Fun game, then they’ll love this one. I know my family did!

Mad Scientist Match Game

Since the version of the game above is not as much of a game as a prize picking thing, I thought it’d be fun to make an actual game out of this as well. I made this mad scientist match game specifically for my son’s 2nd grade classroom party as a combination of science experiments and a classic Halloween bingo game!

Set Up Your Mad Science Game Lab

Start by printing out the mad scientist match cards. There are 24 unique cards and each person playing will need one plus nine bingo markers.

For this variation of the game, the setup is much easier. The cards are designed to have the nine colors blue, yellow, red, orange, green, purple, pink, brown, and black.

Add a tiny bit of baking soda (I did maybe 1/4 teaspoon) into each of the test tubes. Then carefully add a tiny amount of the powder food coloring into the test tubes along with the baking soda.

For adding the food coloring, it will depend on how you want to play your game. I personally recommend playing this in smaller groups of 8 or 12 (if you have a larger group), and I’ve included details below on how I split ours up.

How Much Color to Add for 24 People

These calculations are based on 24 people playing but you can adjust as necessary. The goal is to include duplicate colors so the game isn’t done in two seconds but also have all of the colors so the group can win.

• Split into three groups of 8 – I would do three groups of 16 test tubes. Each of those 16 test tubes should have seven of the colors twice and two of the colors one time.
• Split in half in a group of 12 – I would do two groups of 24 test tubes with six of the colors three times and three of the colors twice.
• Full group – I would do all the test tubes and add five of the colors to six test tubes each and three of the colors to five test tubes each.

Continue adding food coloring and baking soda to each test tube until they’re all filled. Then add a layer of dark tape all the way around the test tube holder so that you cannot see the baking soda and colored powder in the test tubes. And put it all in a baking dish just like with the prize game.

Lastly, fill enough droppers for everyone playing (and how many turns they’ll be taking) with about 1/2 full of white vinegar and place them in a cup next to the test tube holder to finish setting up the game! I recommend having a disposal cup as well for empty vinegar droppers as well.

How to play the mad scientist Match Game

Now it’s time to play!

Give each person a card and bingo markers. Then choose someone to go first. They come up, pick a dropper filled with vinegar, and squeeze the vinegar into their chosen test tube. They shout out whatever color comes up and everyone (including the person whose turn it was) marks off the matching color on their card.

The next person comes up and does the exact same thing. If they get a color that has already been called, they go sit back down, and the next person comes up.

Keep going until someone gets three in a row and that person wins a prize. Everyone keeps their bingo markers on their board and keeps playing.

Keep taking turns until everyone has gotten a bingo and won a prize or until all of the test tubes for that group have been used. I’m guessing most of the kids will want to keep taking turns even if the actual matching portion of the game is over because what kid doesn’t want to do a science experiment?

Once that group is done, switch groups and add in your new test tubes for the new group! Play the exact same way as the first group, just with fresh test tubes!

Who Is This Game best For?

• Best Ages: This one is designed to work with younger kids where everyone wins a prize but still gets to participate in the fun mad scientist experiments! You could play this with anyone really but it’s designed specifically for younger kids!
• Group size: You can play this version of the game with up to 24 people, there are 24 unique cards to download at the bottom of this post.
• People who like science: While there’s a bingo element to this, the main attraction really is the science experiment and creating the reaction. The matching bingo game is secondary to the fun of making and watching people make the chemical reactions!

Prize ideas

I outlined above how the prizes vary between the two games. For the first prize winning game, you’ll want all different values of prizes. For the match game, you want all the prize values to be similar (but could be different items).

Cash, gift cards, experience gifts (like movie tickets), and food are always a good choice. But if you want something that feels more like a prize and less like giving away money, here are some fun on theme options.

You choose which ones fit which tiers based on your own budget!

• Science lab LEGO
• Science experiment kit
• Fairy magic potion kit
• Alchemist’s mini book nook kit
• Mixology set or a mocktail book and mocktail mixers
• Color changing nail polish
• Color changing markers
• Wax bottle candies

Helpful Tips

Don’t add too much food coloring. While it doesn’t really matter, if you just add a little bit it will still color the reaction without being easy to see if someone looks into the test tubes!

Don’t do middle ground colors like teal and rose and lime green. Just stick with very set colors that are easy to distinguish from each other.

Tell people to squeeze the vinegar out and to remove it from the test tube quickly so they don’t end up with colored liquid in their test tube.

Rinse all the test tubes out as soon as you’re done so the color doesn’t stain the tubes. It comes out easily as long as you do it fast!

Make sure people know if not all the prizes will be won. That way they don’t get their hopes up thinking that someone is definitely going to win a grand prize of $100 if you’re only letting people go through once and it’s highly unlikely people will win it!

Enter your first name and email address in the form below to get the printable free download PDF. You will receive a link to download the PDF of the keys plus instructions to your email within minutes.

If you’d prefer to not provide your email address, you can get a copy in my shop here.

If you do not see the form, click here to get to it.

If you do not see the email with the printable game immediately after you fill out the form, make sure to check your promotions, spam, and junk folders!

The file will include:

1. 24 unique Mad Scientist Match cards
2. Printable instructions
3. Use policy (everything is for personal use only)

More Printable Halloween Games

If you like printable Halloween games, try one of these next! They’re simple to print out and play in minutes!

• Flip for treats card game – fun for Halloween or any other time, this one will have you trying to win prizes by flipping the right cards!
• Zombies vs survivors – a fast paced dice rolling game to see who can survive!
• Halloween dice game – another dice one but this time it’s one person versus a team to see who can win!
• Halloween pictionary – how many of these fun Halloween words can you draw?
• Halloween would you rather questions – so many fun Halloween inspired questions to use for your Halloween party!

Looking for more Halloween Games?

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