Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.
The aim of the game is to slide the green square from the top right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner in the least number of moves.
Help the bee to build a stack of blocks far enough to save his friend trapped in the tower.
Can you beat Piggy in this simple dice game? Can you figure out Piggy's strategy, and is there a better one?
Solve this Sudoku puzzle whose clues are in the form of sums of the numbers which should appear in diagonal opposite cells.
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 off again?
A game for 2 people. Take turns joining two dots, until your opponent is unable to move.
Advent Calendar 2010 - a mathematical game for every day during the run-up to Christmas.
This article for teachers describes several games, found on the site, all of which have a related structure that can be used to develop the skills of strategic planning.
Can you work out how to win this game of Nim? Does it matter if you go first or second?
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...
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. 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 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 complicated game played on a 9 x 9 checkered grid.
Reasoning based on this Japanese activity.
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. . . .
Can you identify the mathematicians?
An article for teachers and pupils that encourages you to look at the mathematical properties of similar games.
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 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.
A game for 2 players. This could be played outside with people instead of counters. Try to trap or escape from your opponent.
Here is a version of the game 'Happy Families' for you to make and play.
A collection of games on the NIM theme
Can you use the numbers on the dice to reach your end of the number line before your partner beats you?
Design your own scoring system and play Trumps with these Olympic Sport cards.
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.
How good are you at estimating angles?
A Sudoku with clues given as sums of entries.
A game played with a standard pack of cards.
Here are a collection of games from around the world to try during the holidays or the last few weeks of term.
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?
This article invites you to get familiar with a strategic game called "sprouts". The game is simple enough for younger children to understand, and has also provided experienced mathematicians with. . . .
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.
A game for two players on a large squared space.
A card pairing game involving knowledge of simple ratio.
A fun puzzle with tantrix tiles.
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 game for 1 or 2 people. Use the interactive version, or play with friends. Try to round up as many counters as possible.
A train building game for 2 players.
There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...
A game that tests your understanding of remainders.
Can you make the birds from the egg tangram?
Who said that adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing couldn't be fun?
In this article for teachers, Liz Woodham describes the criteria she uses to choose mathematical games for the classroom and shares some examples from NRICH.
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.
Use the tangram pieces to make our pictures, or to design some of your own!
A shunting puzzle for 1 person. Swop the positions of the counters at the top and bottom of the board.