Math Hombre

 I once again am getting to teach the math game design seminar (at some point they'll realize it's too fun to count for my workload) and I wanted to try and capture my design thinking on a promising new game.

Phil Shapiro shared on Bluesky his math pairs game. A randomized list of 1 to 100 where you find pairs that add up to 100. 

For whatever reason, that made me wonder about a game finding differences. In elementary there's often a default to subtraction=take-away (Separate Result Unknown si parlez vous CGI) (I don't speak French) So a game that focused on the difference would be a good thing. I thought, what if you roll a die and need to find a pair that is that far apart?

For kids I like a number board that has a structure, so kids can use patterns to find what they want. (Nothing against Phil's game, where the Where's Waldo feeling is a lot of the fun.) My first try was a double spiral.

The other thing you can see here is pretty typical for me when I have a mechanic idea. Try out the mechanic and worry about the win condition as you go. The above image was my first try. I asked on Bluesky who won, and Phil responded probably yellow, since it seemed to have more territory. Biggest block of squares? Longest path? I stuck with that for a while. Eventually I realized the game is about differences, the win condition should be, too. What if the path with the biggest difference won?

Mechanically I really liked that. Then there's an advantage for the first player. And it raises questions: what's a path? I thought it should be only edge to edge, but it became too easy to cut someone off. Having squares connect corner to corner gave some of that Blokus energy. I did wonder about the sum of two paths, but that's unnecessarily complicated.

I'm still trying different play rules. Should one of your new squares have to be adjacent to one of your old squares? Currently I'm saying no, because that makes more interaction possible as well as opening up more strategy with more choice.

The board was 9x9 originally because I wanted that double spiral, so it had to be odd x odd. I can see this being on a hundred board. Great representation, and I love to have kids spend time with it. I like that +/-9 are above each other, because 10s are often comfortable already, and it feels like 9s still makes for lots of interesting patterns. It does make a game around 20 turns - which is long for 2nd & 3rd grade. Although kids play Joe Schwartz's Hundred Board Game (definitely a Best of Math Games awardee; video explaining it) is more turns, but the turns are quicker. 

Why I think this is worth developing is because as I play, I have to think! Looking for pairs, any in good strategic placement, what is possible... a lot to consider. Too much for middle elementary? I hate to underestimate the players. Towards the end of the game, there are surprisingly frequent times that you can't take the number you would first take. The number rolled makes a difference in play, as well as providing some variance that helps with surprise.

Current rules text: 

Two teams. Roll a 10 sided die (0=10) or flip a Tiny Polka Dot card. High number goes first and gets 10. Team 2 rolls and takes 90 and then 90 minus their number. 

On your turn, find two numbers whose difference is the number you rolled and color them in your color. After 10 and 90, teams can choose any pair of numbers with the difference they rolled.

Game ends when both teams have to pass because there is no pair with that difference. Both teams draw a path connecting the biggest difference that can find. Squares connect edge to edge or corner to corner. Winner is the team to have the biggest difference in their path.  For example if team 1 makes a path from 10 to 71 (71-10=61) and team 2 makes a path from 24 to 90 (90-24=66) team 2 wins! If tied, the winner is the team with the longest 2nd path that doesn't overlap their first.

The 10 and 90 start is trying to remove that first turn advantage. It's also is a step towards understanding strategy, which can be nice to bake into the rules.

Definitely want to try with a d20 as well. Maybe as a 4th and 5th grade variation? On a 0 with Tiny Polka Dot cards, you could be allowed to pick a single number - which definitely could be useful. Another variation for high school + players could be the sum of two paths victory rule.

Two games with the most recent rules. 10/90 start is working well. 

PS. I make some references here to the criteria I use for thinking about games. Definitely a part of my design thinking.

PPS. I also like the name, which is unusual for me, but am open to suggestions. 

All this month I'll be posting games from the Fall 2023 GAMES seminar at GVSU. This senior capstone was begun by Char Beckmann. See many of the games in this YouTube playlist. Many of the games completed in my seminar are in this playlist. In the seminar, we play lots of games and math games, the future teachers make a first video to promote a class math game that already exists, we develop a group game (a monster-themed middle school Desmos escape room and Math Heads, a number mystery game), and they develop a game of their own.

Jordan Burnham selected Close to Zero, and integer addition game for her first video. Handout and original blogpost.

Jordan's original game Boxzee crosses one of my favorite classroom games, Number Boxes by Jenna Laib, with the classic Yahtzee. What follows is Jordan's explanation of the game and thoughts on why play games in math class.

Boxzee

When I was first brainstorming games, I had absolutely no idea what kind of game I wanted to make. It wasn’t until one day when I was sitting on my bedroom floor that the starting ideas of Boxzee came to me.

Originally I imagined the game to have more moving parts. I first had players each being dealt 4 cards. From there they would roll a dice twice to determine a specific operation they would be using (odds = subtract, evens = add). Then after finding out those operations you would choose 3 cards from your hand to find a largest total value for that specific round. I found that this became a little confusing and players wouldn’t necessarily be able to truly “compete” if all of their rounds operations were different than each other. If one player only rolled odd values then they would be predetermined to loose solely because the other players would have a better chance of having larger numbers if they rolled more even values. 

Moving on from here, I decided to instead come up with the number box sets. Rather than using the dice to determine operations I decided this was a more structured way that players could still affect the total value by the cards they put in without having so many moving parts. I first came up with the idea to have four different rounds. The players would both have 4 cards in their hands and needed 3 to fill into the number box sets. I also decided that they would both fill in the top box row, then move downward. After playing this a couple of times I realized it could be very common to tie. So then I chose to create a number box set that would be the final round and would use all of the cards in the players hand. I liked this much more. 

Then to incorporate more of a feel of Yahtzee, I decided that players should be able to substitute their cards into any of the top 4 number box sets of their choice in any order. This gives them more of a chance to use higher cards and lower cards when they have them for specific rows that those cards would be more valuable for each round. 

Some final touches were made after play testing with Professor Golden and my classmates. These included allowing players to chance any of the cards they have in their hand. I really enjoyed this change because it gives players more risk opportunities. The queen card was introduced as being a wild card during this time as well. I appreciated this idea because I feel like it allows players to more strategic and intentional about where they substitute certain card values into the number boxes. Finally I made a coupe of variations. I came originally came up with the addition and subtraction version of the game. I then decided to toy around with the idea of multiplication and division and made the multiplication and fractions versions.

I think that teachers should play this with their students because it makes basic operations more exciting. I think that allowing students to have so much control over placing values into expressions and solving these is something they will enjoy. I also believe that it allows students to grasp where they may rather place a larger value versus a smaller value. Since the goal is to have the largest total value for each number box set, it will look different for each set. Placing a 9 in the same value that you place a 1 or a 0 has much different affects. 

I believe that this game can be adapted and used for so many reasons. The framework of the rules and rounds is something that creates such a great skeleton to then use with multiple content areas. I have thought about creating a Binomial Boxzee and think that this would be a great next step as well.

Why Play Math Games?

Math can sometimes be a very intimidating subject area for some students. Because of this, I believe that it is important to keep the classroom environment exciting and reassuring that every student has the ability to be a mathematician no matter what level of skills they may think they have. To do this, incorporating games into the classroom can be very beneficial.

Math games are a great resource for teachers to use to introduce and practice content. When playing games in the classroom in allows students to learn content in a more relaxed environment. This allows students to feel less pressure when making mistakes. This is important because students will be more likely to try and continue trying even after making mistakes which will help them master content areas. Similarly, playing these games allows students to build their strategic and problem solving skills. They want to perform their best and win, so they are able to develop strategies that can help them succeed throughout the game.

I also believe math games are beneficial in the classroom because they can be interactive. This allows students to also help each other in teaching the math skills. By not only performing the skills needed for the game, but also using their skills to help teach their classmates they develop a deeper understanding for the content. 

Finally, playing math games allow students to build a love of math. When students are engaged and having fun playing these games, this is when they will be doing the most learning. Exposing students to games that are centered around math subjects, they will be able to see that math is more than just what they may be learning to compute in class.

Now seeing some of the benefits associated with math games, it is also important to identify what makes a good game. One of the biggest things that I believe makes a good math game is having minimal time constraints. When students are practicing their math skills within a certain amount of time some may start to feel discouraged if they are not as fast as their other classmates. With this in mind, choosing games that give students the same opportunity to be successful at completing the game whether they are fast thinkers or need some extra time is very important. 

I also believe that a good math game allows for catch up. This means that even if a student is “down” in a game or is behind, there are aspects of the game that allow the players to quickly catch up and still have an opportunity to win. Since some students may not succeed right away, offering an opportunity for them to catch up and still have a chance to win this makes the game more fun for all players. This also makes students more likely to want to play and in turn allows them to practice and learn without the fear of losing. 

In conclusion, math games being incorporated into the classroom that I urge many educators to try. Not only to practice content, but also to help build up students’ love for the subject and confidence in their own skills.

 I'm very excited to share this game with you. Jenisa Henry invented it for our senior math game seminar, and it shows a LOT of promise.  As she pitches it, it's an early elementary game, but it is highly suited for variations I'll discuss after you hear from Jenisa.

Her rules printout in on Google drive: bit.ly/GLASrules. She writes this about the game development:

My brainstorming for G.L.A.S. first started because I knew I wanted to create a game I can play in my future lower elementary classroom. Knowing that these years it is important to learn simple addition and subtraction facts while understanding equalities I toyed around with the first version of this game. It started with players using their top four cards to create an equality, then use their biggest sum to compare to the opponents biggest sum. It was rough to begin with, until I found the game more or less. This game solidified my idea on wanting to pursue designing a game with equalities. Though, I knew I wanted to add in another element to it, that was the addition and subtraction. Once I added that element to the game, I knew I had to think of a method for making the calls. I knew adding this element would offer choice to the players. I’ve learned to value games that have choices for the players as it makes them feel more active in playing. Once I added that, the game was great. I loved it and it was fun to play.

However, there was still something missing. An element of surprise was just what the game needed and that is when the Queen chance card came into play. This added the perfect amount of randomness that the game needed. After the playtesting went well, I knew it was exactly what I wanted the game to become.

G.L.A.S. is a great game that all teachers for 2nd-3rd grade should have their students playing. There are many reasons students should play this game, many benefits for the students to gather. Most simply, addition and subtraction facts are majorly important for the students to recall as they progress through their schooling. Additionally, the exploration of greater than and less than is the beginning of a building block for equalities. It is also a game of strategy. By using the cards in the players’ hand they need to strategically pick what they want to call. Further, they have to decide what two cards to operate on to get a sum that may satisfy the called equality. My personal favorite is when we have greater than for the equality and subtraction for the operation or less than and addition.

There is another variation to this game that has an emphasis on place value. Players will still call an equality, though instead of an operation they’ll pick the desired length of the number 1 digits-4 digits. All other rules still apply as far as card values, though 10’s do represent 2-digits. This game is very interesting as many variations can be created. As another example, this game can be played where the operation is strictly multiplication, a fraction version could even be created. Changing the game in these ways extends it to reach more grade levels as well as more areas within the mathematics realm.

For me, the break through of this game is the double choice. Giving both players significant choices each turn really makes this one of the best computation games I've seen. The adaptability is significant. In addition to place value, they experimented with multiplication and division, which would be good 5th-8th grade. You could do two digit computations (draw 6 cards), or even mix, 2 cards +/– 1 card.

Also for the course, teachers make a video for a game they want to promote. Jenisa chose +/– 24.

+/- 24 makes a phenomenal classroom game because of its quick nature and simple materials. Only requiring three simple materials that typically already reside in the classroom requires less preparation time for any teacher or helper. With simple rules, students will be able to grasp the game fairly easily. With there being many ways to create the desired outcome, there are multiple entry points for any and all students. This allows for students to stick to addition and subtraction, if they need or use the alternative operations if they feel comfortable. This is also a great game to use to bring attention to the associative and commutative properties. All the while, students are manipulating numbers to get their desired result. There is both strategy and critical thinking within this game, allowing students to be challenged when playing.

Some years I'm fortunate to be able to lead a capstone seminar where future teachers research math games and develop a math game of their own.

Melanie Hanko came into seminar with a vision of making a math game inspired by Bohnanza, a collecting and trading game with a lot of strategy and a fair amount of luck. She really worked on the details for this game. Often times we focus on making games that use minimal materials, but this is much like a commercial game, with a lot of necessary components. For a teacher wanting to give it a try, I would love to see the learners get involved with making the cards. 

Melanie writes:

In the hopes of making an exceptional game, I set off looking for game structures that were simple but had a lot of potential. Then, interested in the structure of Bohnanza: The Bean Game, I started looking at mathematical content that involved some sort of sorting. Eventually, I landed with organizing shapes into hierarchies - specifically quadrilaterals. This is largely based on a 5th grade standard. polyGONE: The Shape Game is the sort of game that engages students with mathematical discourse and reasoning minus the negative attitudes about math. While players need to have a good base understanding of the hierarchy of quadrilaterals and the different types of triangles, this game will help players to create more connections between shapes and gain a broader understanding of what gives a shape its name. 

A lot of the pieces of the game are designed with specific purposes, either to clear up misunderstandings or confusion in early versions or to clear out some of the underlying confusion. The part of the game with the most meaningful design, is the deck of cards. These cards are created to broaden player’s understanding of shapes. Included in the cards are traditional and non-traditional shapes. Different cards show different attributes of a family, like parallel lines, congruent lines or angles, and even lines of symmetry. Different cards show different looking shapes - for example both a concave and a convex kite. This differentiation within the cards, will broaden player’s understanding of shapes and relationships between shape families.

Another purpose of the design of the cards is to increase their usefulness. With all of the cutting and printing, the cards better be usable for multiple occasions. Since there is so much differentiation between the cards, you can easily use them in a sorting or a matching activity. Even before playing the polyGONE, you could match cards based on if they have certain attributes. For example, matching cards that have two pairs of congruent sides. The cards can be used in explorations of the “rules” for each shape family. For example, deciding if a right angle is necessary for a trapezoid, or if it is something that only occurs in some trapezoids. These and other activities can be easily supported with these cards and will help to broaden students’ understanding of shapes and the shape hierarchy. 

The teachers also make a video for a good math game which they would like to promote. Melanie found one of Kent Haines' games that is a very good Nim variant. She writes: 

The 100 Game is a part of the math game genre of nim, which are mathematical strategy games in which players take turns removing objects from distinct piles or groups. Not only does the 100 Game require almost no materials and setup, but it is a fun game full of mathematical reasoning. In the forefront, the game makes practice subtracting within 100 enjoyable. Behind this practice, players strategize how to not be the last person to take away from the total. This requires deductive reasoning, an important mathematical skill. Besides the math, this game is quick to learn and engages players quickly - even unwilling players. 

Mathematical Applications: practice subtraction, strategy and deductive reasoning

Materials: paper and pencil, two players

Object of the Game: Players start at 100 and subtract any number 1-10 from the total. The goal is to NOT be the last person to subtract a number. So you want to subtract the second to last number from the total.

How to Play:

• Player one will start the game by saying “100 minus [blank] equals [insert new total]. You can only subtract numbers from 1-10.
• Then both players will write out the subtraction sentence player one just said out loud.
• Now, it’s player two’s turn. This player will pick a new number to subtract, say the subtraction sentence, and both players will write down the sentence.

Example Play: Here is an example of what each player would say for a few turns. Remember that BOTH players are writing down the subtraction sentences as well.

• Player One (P1): “100 minus 5 equals 95”
• Player Two (P2): “95 minus 10 equals 85”
• P1: “85 minus 7 equals 78”
• P2: :78 minus 9 equals 69”
• ...
• P2: “23 minus 9 equals 14”
• P1: “14 minus 3 equals 11”
• P2: “11 minus 10 equals 1”
• P1: “1 minus 1 equals 0”

In this game, player one lost because they were the last person to subtract a number from 100.

Notes: After you play this game a few times, you might start to develop a sure strategy. In fact there is something special about the number 12. Finding this strategy is what engages players in deductive reasoning. Some questions you might want to ask yourself or your students/children include the following:

• What should your strategy be?
• How can you ensure that you will win?
• At what point in the game do you need to start using your strategy?
• Does it matter who goes first?

Be sure to check Kent's blogpost for more ideas.