An ordinary set of dominoes can be laid out as a 7 by 4 magic rectangle in which all the spots in all the columns add to 24, while those in the rows add to 42. Try it! Now try the magic square...
Everthing you have always wanted to do with dominoes! Some of these games are good for practising your mental calculation skills, and some are good for your reasoning skills.
The computer starts with all the lights off, but then clicks 3, 4
or 5 times at random, leaving some lights on. Can you switch them
Advent Calendar 2010 - a mathematical game for every day during the
run-up to Christmas.
A game for 2 players. Take turns to place a counter so that it occupies one of the lowest possible positions in the grid. The first player to complete a line of 4 wins.
A game for 2 people. Take turns joining two dots, until your opponent is unable to move.
Can you identify the mathematicians?
A complicated game played on a 9 x 9 checkered grid.
A game for 2 players. Can be played online. One player has 1 red
counter, the other has 4 blue. The red counter needs to reach the
other side, and the blue needs to trap the red.
A fun game for two. You'll need some counters.
A game for 2 people. Take turns to move the counters 1, 2 or 3
spaces. The player to remove the last counter off the board wins.
Can you spot the similarities between this game and other games you know? The aim is to choose 3 numbers that total 15.
A number card game for 2-6 players.
A game for 2 players. Draw a daisy with at least 5 petals. Shade 1 or 2 petals next to each other. The winner shades the last petal.
A game for 1 person to develop stategy and shape and space awareness. 12 counters are placed on a board. Counters are removed one at a time. The aim is to be left with only 1 counter.
A game for 2 players. This could be played outside with people instead of counters. Try to trap or escape from your opponent.
A game for 1 or 2 people. Use the interactive version, or play with friends. Try to round up as many counters as possible.
This is a game for 2 players. Each player has 4 counters each, and
wins by blocking their opponent's counters. A good follow-on from
The game uses a 3x3 square board. 2 players take turns to play,
either placing a red on an empty square, or changing a red to
orange, or orange to green. The player who forms 3 of 1 colour in a
line. . . .
This is a challenging game of strategy for two players with many interesting variations.
A shunting puzzle for 1 person. Swop the positions of the counters at the top and bottom of the board.
A Sudoku with clues given as sums of entries.
A game for 1 person to play on screen. Practise your number bonds
whilst improving your memory
Advent Calendar 2010 - a mathematical game for every day during the run-up to Christmas.
Here are a collection of games from around the world to try during the holidays or the last few weeks of term.
Totality game for an adult and child. Be the first to reach your agreed total.
A game for 2 players. Using 2 dice, some counters and a games board, can you form a line of counters from one side of the board to the other?
Board Block Challenge game for an adult and child. Can you prevent your partner from being able to make a shape?
Take turns to place a decimal number on the spiral. Can you get three consecutive numbers?
Slide the pieces to move Khun Phaen past all the guards into the position on the right from which he can escape to freedom.
A simple game of patience which often comes out. Can you explain
This article, the second in the series, looks at some different types of games and the sort of mathematical thinking they can develop.
A game for 2 or more people. Starting with 100, subratct a number from 1 to 9 from the total. You score for making an odd number, a number ending in 0 or a multiple of 6.
This is a game for two players. You will need some small-square
grid paper, a die and two felt-tip pens or highlighters. Players
take turns to roll the die, then move that number of squares in. . . .
A game for 2 players that can be played online. Players take it in turns to select a word from the 9 words given. The aim is to select all the occurrences of the same letter.
This article supplies teachers with information that may be useful in better understanding the nature of games and their role in teaching and learning mathematics.
Dicey Operations for an adult and child. Can you get close to 1000 than your partner?
A game for 2 players. Given an arrangement of matchsticks, players
take it is turns to remove a matchstick, along with all of the
matchsticks that touch it.
A Sudoku with a twist.
Solve this Sudoku puzzle whose clues are in the form of sums of the
numbers which should appear in diagonal opposite cells.
Spiralling Decimals game for an adult and child. Can you get three decimals next to each other on the spiral before your partner?
Use the tangram pieces to make our pictures, or to design some of
Two sudokus in one. Challenge yourself to make the necessary
Four numbers on an intersection that need to be placed in the
surrounding cells. That is all you need to know to solve this
Can you make the birds from the egg tangram?
Unmultiply is a game of quick estimation. You need to find two numbers that multiply together to something close to the given target - fast! 10 levels with a high scores table.
Design your own scoring system and play Trumps with these Olympic Sport cards.
A Sudoku with clues as ratios.
Basic strategy games are particularly suitable as starting points
for investigations. Players instinctively try to discover a winning
strategy, and usually the best way to do this is to analyse. . . .
Here is a solitaire type environment for you to experiment with. Which targets can you reach?