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You'll need two dice to play this game against a partner. Will Incey Wincey make it to the top of the drain pipe or the bottom of the drain pipe first?
Here is a version of the game 'Happy Families' for you to make and play.
Play this well-known game against the computer where each player is equally likely to choose scissors, paper or rock. Why not try the variations too?
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.
Take it in turns to place a domino on the grid. One to be placed horizontally and the other vertically. Can you make it impossible for your opponent to play?
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...
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. . . .
An odd version of tic tac toe
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 complicated game played on a 9 x 9 checkered grid.
A shunting puzzle for 1 person. Swop the positions of the counters at the top and bottom of the board.
A variant on the game Alquerque
There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...
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.
Exchange the positions of the two sets of counters in the least possible number of moves
A fun game for two. You'll need some counters.
A game for 2 players. This could be played outside with people instead of counters. Try to trap or escape from your opponent.
Design your own scoring system and play Trumps with these Olympic Sport cards.
The idea of this game is to add or subtract the two numbers on the dice and cover the result on the grid, trying to get a line of three. Are there some numbers that are good to aim for?
A game played with a standard pack of cards.
Reasoning based on this Japanese activity.
Here are a collection of games from around the world to try during the holidays or the last few weeks of term.
Can you work out how to win this game of Nim? Does it matter if you go first or second?
Try to stop your opponent from being able to split the piles of counters into unequal numbers. Can you find a strategy?
Can you use the numbers on the dice to reach your end of the number line before your partner beats you?
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 two stones.
This challenge is a game for two players. Choose two numbers from the grid and multiply or divide, then mark your answer on the number line. Can you get four in a row before your partner?
Match the halves.
A game for 2 people. Take turns placing a counter on the star. You win when you have completed a line of 3 in your colour.
Solve this Sudoku puzzle whose clues are in the form of sums of the numbers which should appear in diagonal opposite cells.
A game for two people, or play online. Given a target number, say 23, and a range of numbers to choose from, say 1-4, players take it in turns to add to the running total to hit their target.
An interactive activity for one to experiment with a tricky tessellation
An interactive game to be played on your own or with friends. Imagine you are having a party. Each person takes it in turns to stand behind the chair where they will get the most chocolate.
A game for 2 people that can be played on line or with pens and paper. Combine your knowledege of coordinates with your skills of strategic thinking.
A game for 2 people using a pack of cards Turn over 2 cards and try to make an odd number or a multiple of 3.
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.
Work out the fractions to match the cards with the same amount of money.
This is a challenging game of strategy for two players with many interesting variations.
A game for 2 or more players with a pack of cards. Practise your skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to hit the target score.
A game for two players on a large squared space.
In this game, you can add, subtract, multiply or divide the numbers on the dice. Which will you do so that you get to the end of the number line first?
A fun puzzle with tantrix tiles.
A card pairing game involving knowledge of simple ratio.
A train building game for 2 players.
Take it in turns to make a triangle on the pegboard. Can you block your opponent?
Try this version of Snap with a friend - do you know the order of the days of the week?
This is a game for two players.
A game for two players. You'll need some counters and somewhere to draw a board.
A game for 2 people that everybody knows. You can play with a friend or online. If you play correctly you never lose!