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A game for 2 players with similaritlies to NIM. Place one counter on each spot on the games board. Players take it is turns to remove 1 or 2 adjacent counters. The winner picks up the last counter.
An article for teachers and pupils that encourages you to look at the mathematical properties of similar games.
A collection of games on the NIM theme
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.
Can you discover whether this is a fair game?
Start with any number of counters in any number of piles. 2 players take it in turns to remove any number of counters from a single pile. The winner is the player to take the last counter.
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.
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. . . .
Match pairs of cards so that they have equivalent ratios.
Some puzzles requiring no knowledge of knot theory, just a careful inspection of the patterns. A glimpse of the classification of knots and a little about prime knots, crossing numbers and. . . .
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.
A Sudoku with a twist.
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?
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 why?
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.
Can you be the first to complete a row of three?
Match the cards of the same value.
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.
Can you beat the computer in the challenging strategy game?
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?
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.
Four numbers on an intersection that need to be placed in the surrounding cells. That is all you need to know to solve this sudoku.
Can you work out how to win this game of Nim? Does it matter if you go first or second?
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 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.
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?
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. . . .
Here are a collection of games from around the world to try during the holidays or the last few weeks of term.
Two sudokus in one. Challenge yourself to make the necessary connections.
Use the tangram pieces to make our pictures, or to design some of your own!
Advent Calendar 2010 - a mathematical game for every day during the run-up to Christmas.
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.
Here is a machine with four coloured lights. Can you develop a strategy to work out the rules controlling each light?
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 article supplies teachers with information that may be useful in better understanding the nature of games and their role in teaching and learning mathematics.
A game in which players take it in turns to try to draw quadrilaterals (or triangles) with particular properties. Is it possible to fill the game grid?
A Sudoku with clues as ratios.
A complicated game played on a 9 x 9 checkered grid.
A game for 2 or more people, based on the traditional card game Rummy. Players aim to make two `tricks', where each trick has to consist of a picture of a shape, a name that describes that shape, and. . . .
A train building game for 2 players.
A game to make and play based on the number line.
Practise your diamond mining skills and your x,y coordination in this homage to Pacman.
A shunting puzzle for 1 person. Swop the positions of the counters at the top and bottom of the board.
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...
Collect as many diamonds as you can by drawing three straight lines.