Filter by: Content type: ALL Problems Articles Games Stage: All Stage 1&2 Stage 2&3 Stage 3&4 Stage 4&5 Challenge level:
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. . . .
Can you discover whether this is a fair game?
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. . . .
To avoid losing think of another very well known game where the patterns of play are similar.
A collection of games on the NIM theme
A game for 2 players
An article for teachers and pupils that encourages you to look at the mathematical properties of similar games.
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.
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.
A game for 2 players. Set out 16 counters in rows of 1,3,5 and 7. Players take turns to remove any number of counters from a row. The player left with the last counter looses.
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 loser is the player who takes 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.
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 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.
Match pairs of cards so that they have equivalent ratios.
Match the cards of the same value.
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.
Here is a solitaire type environment for you to experiment with. Which targets can you reach?
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.
A Sudoku with a twist.
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.
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 be the first to complete a row of three?
This is a simple version of an ancient game played all over the world. It is also called Mancala. What tactics will increase your chances of winning?
Slide the pieces to move Khun Phaen past all the guards into the position on the right from which he can escape to freedom.
How good are you at estimating angles?
A game for 2 people. Take turns joining two dots, until your opponent is unable to move.
Can you beat Piggy in this simple dice game? Can you figure out Piggy's strategy, and is there a better one?
This is an interactive net of a Rubik's cube. Twists of the 3D cube become mixes of the squares on the 2D net. Have a play and see how many scrambles you can undo!
A game to make and play based on the number line.
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. . . .
A Sudoku with clues as ratios.
A Sudoku with clues given as sums of entries.
Given the products of diagonally opposite cells - can you complete this Sudoku?
This article explains the use of the idea of connectedness in networks, in two different ways, to bring into focus the basics of the game of Go, namely capture and territory.
A simple game of patience which often comes out. Can you explain why?
A game for 1 person to play on screen. Practise your number bonds whilst improving your memory
This pair of linked Sudokus matches letters with numbers and hides a seasonal greeting. Can you find it?
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. . . .
Use the tangram pieces to make our pictures, or to design some of your own!
Two sudokus in one. Challenge yourself to make the necessary connections.
Here is a machine with four coloured lights. Can you develop a strategy to work out the rules controlling each light?
Advent Calendar 2010 - a mathematical game for every day during the run-up to Christmas.
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 in which players take it in turns to turn up two cards. If they can draw a triangle which satisfies both properties they win the pair of cards. And a few challenging questions to follow...
Investigations based on an Indian game.