Pencil & Paper Games

Arrows

Many great classroom games are not suitable for casual play at home. They are unfair and lack replayability. Arrows fall into this category. It’s a great logic game, but probably not one to recommend for the home.

Categorize 9 games based on the answer to two questions:

1) Will Emperor Jiaqing win / tie / lose if he goes the first.

2) Will the Pirate, Ching Shih, win / tie / lose if she goes the first.

Get the 9 printable game-sheets here.

GCF Bingo

is a game where students can both strategize and gain practice calculating the greatest common factor of a set of numbers.

Download the pdf for the game here.

Beetle Blitz

is for students who need practice with single digit multiplication. They are entirely unfair – almost always one beetle will have a winning strategy. I love to emphasize this to help remove the stigma of failure from the classroom. The beetle to beetle confrontations are entirely unfair because almost always one beetle will have a sure win. However, finding that win is hard fun.

Printable sheets here.

Gozen - The 2-Player Pure Strategy Game (old rules. for new rules see pdf below)

Gozen are female Samurai warriors. In this game your goal is to outlast your opponent by strategic horsemanship and archery.

After you view this slide show download game-boards here.

The battlefield may be any shape, but the standard game is on a triangular 10-board.

One player writes a black and red positive integer on two hexagons. The other player gets to choose to play black or red.

Black always moves first.

Each player gets three life which are the x markers flanking the game board. We will discuss them in a while, but first lets talk about horsemanship and archery.

Horsemanship

At the start of each turn you must ride 1-3 hexagons from your current location. Write the next highest integer in one of these hexagons. In this case the black player will write "51" somewhere in the green area.

Archery

Next it is time to shoot. You may shoot any hexagon on the board.

Black's turn is finished. It is now time for red's turn and to explain how you can lose.

Horsemanship

Red will write "31" in one of the green hexagons.

Losing the battle

If it were the end of Red's turn, Red would lose because...

Red's current location can see an enemy hexagon that does not share a common prime factor with itself. "50" and "31" do not share a common prime factor.

However, luckily for Red, it is not the end of Red's turn...

Red can still shoot an arrow.

Now it is the end of Red's turn, and thankfully red can no longer see the "50." It is only the closest number or destroyed hexagon that needs to be checked in each direction.

Black plays "52" - is that dangerous for black?

No - it is not dangerous. The "52" can see the "30" without danger because they share a common prime factor.

Black shoots an arrow.

Red makes a risky move and loses one of her three lives. Let's see why it is risky...

The move is risky because Red can see one of her own integers that does not share a common factor with her current number. "32" does not share a common factor with "31."

This check is made before shooting an arrow. If a risky move is made - the player loses a life and may not shoot an arrow that turn.

Red loses a life. If red loses all three, she has lost the game.

Is black's move risky?

Yes - Black's move was risky: "51" and "53" do not share a common prime factor. Black loses a life and does not get to shoot this turn.

Red's "33" does not see any of her own integers which are relatively prime. Actually she doesn't even see the "30" because a hexagon in-between has been destroyed.

Therefore - Red may shoot an arrow.

That is lucky, because if Red "33" saw Black "50" - Red would immediately lose because the two do not share a common prime factor.

Red saves the game by blocking the line-of-sight between her "33" and Black's "50."

Red does not have to worry about the 51. Why? Because both share a common prime factor of 3.

Black moves to "54."

Black shoots.

Red moves.

Red shoots.

Black makes a risky move...

Black loses a life and does not get to shoot this turn.

Red makes a risky move...

Red loses a life, but now it is Black's turn. Black has nowhere to go. Black loses.

The game board is the first page in this pdf file.

Too Many Mice!

Your students need to add 15 and 17… How do you teach carrying from the ones column to the tens column? This game helps.

“Too Many Mice” is a simple game in which students try to get as many mice as possible at the end of the game. It was designed for the grade 2 teachers at Foundations for the Future Chartered Academy. It is a two player game, but you can add an additional role: one student can play the part of the cat.

Instead of using normal playing cards, use a set of cards like those here.

Extensions:

1) If your students find the game is always won by the person who goes first, then increase the number of cards from 6 to 9.

2) Is a tie possible with 6 cards? With 7? 8? 9? 10?

3) How many different ways are there to play the game with 2 cards? With 3? 4? 5? 6?

4) If both players play very well, who will win – the first player, the second player – or will it end in a tie? With 1 card? 2 cards? 3? 4? 5? 6? I don’t know the answer for 9 cards.

Cannibal Fish

This is a game for 3-8 players. Players start by choosing different numbers less than 10. This is their initial fish size. Everyone also agrees to the size of fish that will win the game. In this game, Anna, Bob and Clara have agreed that size 51+ wins.

The smallest fish begins by eating one of the other fish. Add that number to their number.

Clara (1) ate Bob's fish (2) and now has 3.

The player with the smallest fish always takes their turn next - so now it is Bob's turn. Bob(2) is going to eat Anna's fish (7). What size will Bob's fish be?