How do I know which letters in my password count as elements?

Scan for every capital letter. Check whether that capital alone is a symbol like O or K, and whether the capital plus the next lowercase letter forms a two-letter symbol like He or Fe. Every match counts toward your atomic number sum.

What is the fastest way to reach an atomic number sum of 200?

Use one or two heavy elements instead of many light ones. Oganesson (Og) is 118 and fermium (Fm) is 100, so Og plus a mid-weight symbol, or two symbols near 100, gets you to 200 with four characters.

Why does my atomic number sum keep changing when I edit my password?

Edits create or destroy accidental symbols. Typing a lowercase letter after an existing capital can form a new two-letter symbol, and deleting a letter can split one. Rescan every capital after each edit.

Password Game Periodic Table Rule: Atomic Numbers to 200

Unofficial fan guide for Neal Agarwal's Password Game at neal.fun. We describe rules in our own words and are not affiliated with neal.fun. Done with all 35? Our original 30-directive game is a fresh gauntlet.

The Password Game has two chemistry rules. One requires at least one periodic table element symbol somewhere in your password. The other requires all the element symbols in your password to have atomic numbers adding up to a target, commonly 200. The first rule is easy. The second turns your whole password into a chemistry audit, because symbols you never meant to type still count.

How the game reads symbols

Element symbols are one capital letter (O, K, N) or a capital followed by one lowercase letter (He, Fe, Og). The game scans your password for these patterns everywhere, not just where you intended them. Consequences:

A stray capital P reads as phosphorus, atomic number 15, whether or not you meant it as chemistry.
A capital N followed by a lowercase b, d, e, i, o or p forms Nb (41), Nd (60), Ne (10), Ni (28), No (102) or Np (93). A knight move landing on one of those files hands you a hidden contribution you did not ask for.
A capital C before a lowercase a reads as Ca (calcium, 20), not as C plus a.

So step one is never “add elements.” Step one is an audit.

Step 1: audit what you already have

Go through your password capital by capital. For each capital letter, ask two questions:

Does this capital plus the next lowercase letter form a two-letter symbol? Check a periodic table. Two-letter matches take priority in your counting because the game reads the pair as one symbol.
If not, is the capital alone a symbol? Single-letter symbols are H, B, C, N, O, F, P, S, K, V, Y, I, W, U.

Write down every match and its atomic number in your notes document. Total them. That is your starting sum, and it is rarely zero, because earlier rules forced capitals into your password.

Step 2: close the gap with heavy elements

Subtract your accidental sum from the target. Now pick the fewest symbols that cover the difference. Heavy elements are efficient: two characters can be worth over 100.

Useful elements for gap-filling:

Element	Symbol	Atomic number
Oganesson	Og	118
Nihonium	Nh	113
Copernicium	Cn	112
Darmstadtium	Ds	110
Meitnerium	Mt	109
Fermium	Fm	100
Einsteinium	Es	99
Californium	Cf	98
Gold	Au	79
Tin	Sn	50
Zinc	Zn	30
Calcium	Ca	20
Neon	Ne	10
Helium	He	2
Hydrogen	H	1

Strategy: land most of the distance with one or two heavy symbols, then fine-tune with light ones. Need 143? Nh (113) plus Zn (30). Need 121? Cn (112) plus F (9), or Og (118) plus H and He. Hydrogen at 1 and helium at 2 are your precision screws for the last few points.

Placement matters. Do not paste a new symbol where its lowercase letter can pair with a preceding capital, and do not follow a new symbol’s capital with an unrelated lowercase letter. Emoji and symbols make good separators.

Step 3: guard the sum for the rest of the run

Every later edit can disturb the chemistry. The repeat offenders:

The chess move. Piece letters are capitals. A knight moving to the b, d, e, i, o or p file writes Nb, Nd, Ne, Ni, No or Np, all real symbols. Nf and Ng are not elements and cost nothing. Audit the move right after pasting it, and see the chess guide.
The YouTube URL. Video IDs mix capitals and lowercase freely and can contain several accidental symbols. Audit the whole ID character by character, per the YouTube guide.
Fire repairs. After the fire event you retype chunks quickly. Rescan afterward.
Case-change rules. Any rule that flips letter case can create or destroy symbols across your entire password.

When the sum drifts, adjust with your precision elements. Overshot by 2? Remove an He or two H characters you planted for exactly this purpose. Keeping a small buffer of hydrogens in the password gives you cheap, safe adjustment room.

Track the running sum in your notes next to your digit total from the digits rule. The two audits pair well: whenever a paste makes you recount digits, rescan capitals in the same pass.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know which letters in my password count as elements?: Scan for every capital letter. Check whether that capital alone is a symbol like O or K, and whether the capital plus the next lowercase letter forms a two-letter symbol like He or Fe. Every match counts toward your atomic number sum.
What is the fastest way to reach an atomic number sum of 200?: Use one or two heavy elements instead of many light ones. Oganesson (Og) is 118 and fermium (Fm) is 100, so Og plus a mid-weight symbol, or two symbols near 100, gets you to 200 with four characters.
Why does my atomic number sum keep changing when I edit my password?: Edits create or destroy accidental symbols. Typing a lowercase letter after an existing capital can form a new two-letter symbol, and deleting a letter can split one. Rescan every capital after each edit.