Who said that adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing couldn't be fun?
Some Games That May Be Nice or Nasty for an adult and child. Use your knowledge of place value to beat your opponent.
There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...
Here is a chance to play a version of the classic Countdown Game.
Gillian Hatch analyses what goes on when mathematical games are used as a pedagogic device.
Spiralling Decimals game for an adult and child. Can you get three decimals next to each other on the spiral before your partner?
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.
Can you spot the similarities between this game and other games you know? The aim is to choose 3 numbers that total 15.
A simple game for 2 players invented by John Conway. It is played on a 3x3 square board with 9 counters that are black on one side and white on the other.
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.
Can you find the pairs that represent the same amount of money?
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.
This article, the second in the series, looks at some different types of games and the sort of mathematical thinking they can develop.
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.
Take turns to place a decimal number on the spiral. Can you get three consecutive numbers?
Play this game and see if you can figure out the computer's chosen number.
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, who take turns to move the counters. The player to remove the last counter from the board wins.
Can you match pairs of fractions, decimals and percentages, and beat your previous scores?
Add or subtract the two numbers on the spinners and try to complete a row of three. Are there some numbers that are good to aim for?
Two sudokus in one. Challenge yourself to make the necessary connections.
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.
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.
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.
The game of go has a simple mechanism. This discussion of the principle of two eyes in go has shown that the game does not depend on equally clear-cut concepts.
Two sudokus in one. Challenge yourself to make the necessary connections.
Nim-7 game for an adult and child. Who will be the one to take the last counter?
Can you beat the computer in the challenging strategy game?
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. . . .
An article for teachers and pupils that encourages you to look at the mathematical properties of similar games.
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.
Can you work out how to win this game of Nim? Does it matter if you go first or second?
A simple game of patience which often comes out. Can you explain why?
This pair of linked Sudokus matches letters with numbers and hides a seasonal greeting. Can you find it?
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. . . .
Have a go at this game which has been inspired by the Big Internet Math-Off 2019. Can you gain more columns of lily pads than your opponent?
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 second Sudoku article discusses "Corresponding Sudokus" which are pairs of Sudokus with terms that can be matched using a substitution rule.
Got It game for an adult and child. How can you play so that you know you will always win?
This sudoku requires you to have "double vision" - two Sudoku's for the price of one