Board Games and Pencil & Paper Games

#1 job for parents: establish a culture of board gaming in the home
Board games are a celebration of problem solving and problem solving is at the core of a quality mathematics education. Unfortunately, most board games are not a good fit for the classroom. They take too long, cost too much, or critical pieces are too easily lost.
That’s why it is the #1 job of the parent – not to help their child with math worksheets, but to establish a culture of board gaming in the home.

Hanabi

2013
MathPickle 
Game of the Year
2-5 players
25 minutes
ages 8+

Avalon

2014
MathPickle 
Game of the Year
5-10 players
20 minutes
ages 9+

Star Realms

2015
MathPickle 
Game of the Year
2 players
20 minutes
ages 8+

Codenames

2016
MathPickle 
Game of the Year
2-8 players
20 minutes
ages 10+

Santorini

2017
MathPickle 
Game of the Year
2-4 players
15 minutes
ages 6+

Warsaw: City of Ruins

2018
MathPickle 
Game of the Year
2-4 players
45 minutes
ages 10+

878 Vikings

2019
MathPickle
Game of the Year
2-4 players
60-90 minutes
ages 11+

The Crew

2020
MathPickle
Runnerup Game of the Year
2-4 players
20 minutes
ages 9+

Cartographers

2020

MathPickle
Game of the Year
1-100 players
30 minutes
ages 8+

Air Land & Sea

2021
MathPickle
Runnerup Game of the Year
2 players
15 minutes
ages 8+

Jon Perry's Air Land & Sea impressed me immediately with its inspired rule that allows players to withdraw from a battle at any time. The game improves with play as the first games will be slowed down because each card has critical text... however there are only 18 cards in total. This game is a gem for those with a limited budget.

Wingspan

2021
MathPickle
Game of the Year
1-5 players
60 minutes
ages 10+

Elizabeth Hargrave's Wingspan does not have the most innovative mechanisms, but it is infused with natural beauty like no other game I've played. Unlike all previous winners, the game did not "wow" me on the first play, but over many plays, I came to love the anticipation of each new bird entering play. It is a sumptuous game.

Not all board games are created equal. If the only board games in your home are risk and monopoly – that’s equivalent to your bookshelves holding only harlequin romances. You can do better than that.
You should also avoid “educational games.” Most of these are painful to play. Choose games that are fun to play. Remember – the academic objective is not math skills, but problem solving.

Visit www.boardgamegeek.com for ratings of thousands of board games.

Santorini is as much a part of my legacy as MathPickle. It arrived in homes across the world in January 2017 and is currently ranked as the top family game and the top pure strategy game on board game geek. It fills me with joy that it is finally being published after over thirty years of trying. I was a game designer long before becoming a mathematician and these game design skills are most helpful in designing MathPickle puzzles. Long live board games 😉

Big thanks to Roxley Games for publishing Santorini!

The Sentry Box is the hub of board game design in Calgary and Calgary is the hub of board game design in Canada. Canada is not the hub of board game design in the world, but that’s okay – we have quality if not quantity 😉

Starting in January 2017, I’ll be the first contact of new game designers in Calgary with the Game Artisans of Canada. Creating a quality game from scratch is hard and should probably not be attempted in school. Much better is to get students to design cards for an existing quality game like Star Realms or Dominion.

The most important distinction for educators is to decide if a game is good for the classroom or is better left for the home. The video on the left highlights the properties of classroom games as it takes you through a journey through several great games.

Classroom Games

A small fraction of games work well in the classroom. They must be cheap or resilient. They must be easy to teach and quick to play and put away.

Home Games

All excellent games work well at home – that’s why parents must take the lead on establishing a culture of board gaming.

Non-Commercial Games

You do not need to spend money if you don’t care about aesthetics. Many great games can be printed off or put together from easy-to-find materials.
10 Minute Heist (2-5 Players; 15 minutes; Ages 8+)

10 Minute Heist (2-5 Players; 15 minutes; Ages 8+)

Coup (2-6 players; 15 minutes; ages 9+)

Coup (2-6 players; 15 minutes; ages 9+)

Connect 4 (2 players; 5 minutes; ages 5+)

Connect 4 (2 players; 5 minutes; ages 5+)

Doodle Quest (1-4 players; 15 minutes; ages 5+)

Doodle Quest (1-4 players; 15 minutes; ages 5+)

Santorini (2-3 players, 15 minutes, ages 5+)

Santorini (2-3 players, 15 minutes, ages 5+)

Inversé (2 players, 5 minutes, ages 6+)

Inversé (2 players, 5 minutes, ages 6+)

Go (2 players; 15 minutes++ ; ages 6+)

Go (2 players; 15 minutes++ ; ages 6+)

Qwirkle (2-4 players; 45 minutes; ages 5+)

Qwirkle (2-4 players; 45 minutes; ages 5+)

For Sale (3-6 players; 20 minutes; ages 6+)

For Sale (3-6 players; 20 minutes; ages 6+)

The Crew

1754 Conquest (2-4 players; 60 minutes; ages 10+)

1754 Conquest (2-4 players; 60 minutes; ages 10+)

Ethnos (2-6 players; 45 minutes; ages 10+)

Ethnos (2-6 players; 45 minutes; ages 10+)

Warsaw: City of Ruins (2-4 Players; 45 minutes; Ages 10+)

Warsaw: City of Ruins (2-4 Players; 45 minutes; Ages 10+)

Sushi Go – Party! (2-8 Players; 20 minutes; Ages 8+)

Sushi Go – Party! (2-8 Players; 20 minutes; Ages 8+)

Santorini (2-4 players; 15 minutes; ages 6+)

Santorini (2-4 players; 15 minutes; ages 6+)

Captain Sonar (8 players; 1 hour; ages 10+)

Captain Sonar (8 players; 1 hour; ages 10+)

7 Wonders Duel (2 players; 30 minutes; ages 9+)

7 Wonders Duel (2 players; 30 minutes; ages 9+)

Hula Hoop Maze (patterns)

Hula Hoop Maze (patterns)

Hex (strategy game)

Hex (strategy game)

Kono – conjecture making with a Korean Game

Kono – conjecture making with a Korean Game

Infinite Go

Infinite Go

ConHex (strategy game)

ConHex (strategy game)

A little bit of Aggression (addition, subtraction)

A little bit of Aggression (addition, subtraction)

Pillage and Profit (algebra)

Pillage and Profit (algebra)

Chomp – Cartesian game

Chomp – Cartesian game

This is a starting point showing how memes in board game design replicated over time. I’d love to make this a giant map of games some time in the future when I have better graphing software. See a higher resolution pdf here.

This is an older version. See a higher resolution pdf here. You can see the mess of connections makes it very hard to beautifully render the connections. In the solution above arrows and overlap both mean that a meme is shared.

Yet more opinions on Board Games for the home… This video is a bit out of date, but I still stand by the games I recommend in it. Adopt one 😉
Pin Board Murders (patterns, angles, discussion)

Pin Board Murders (patterns, angles, discussion)

July 13, 2019
Protect the Slow!

Protect the Slow!

September 2, 2015
Beauty and Mathematics are Inseparable!

Beauty and Mathematics are Inseparable!

July 9, 2015
Add a Nasty Story!

Add a Nasty Story!

July 9, 2015
Create Classroom Chaos!

Create Classroom Chaos!

July 9, 2015
Be Wrong.

Be Wrong.

July 9, 2015
Abolish K-6 Mathematics Education!

Abolish K-6 Mathematics Education!

July 9, 2015
Board Games are to Math as Novels are to Language.

Board Games are to Math as Novels are to Language.

July 9, 2015
Remove the Stigma of Failure!

Remove the Stigma of Failure!

July 9, 2015
Sociable Math Engages!

Sociable Math Engages!

July 9, 2015
Deflect Top Students into Problem Solving.

Deflect Top Students into Problem Solving.

July 9, 2015

Please use MathPickle in your classrooms. If you have improvements to make, please contact me. I'll give you credit and kudos 😉 If you are using MathPickle with adults, please mention the website. If you are from a private school, please ask parents or administrators to donate.

Gordon Hamilton

(MMath, PhD)