This list is an indication of the games available at the Maths Arcade. We tried to get a number of games that would be suitable for a group of students to play – particularly important at the start. Some, such as Giant Blokus, have been particularly successful as students like to watch even if they are not playing. We obtained some word games for students whose first language is not English. This list is not a definitive list as it was bought under constraints of time, money and University procurement policy. I would welcome suggestions for other items (N.Bradshaw@gre.ac.uk).
Where available, game titles link to sheets giving an explanation of the rules of the game and some questions to encourage students to investigate the strategy and the mathematics behind the game. These sheets were created by undergraduate students at Sheffield Hallam University and Nottingham Trent University under schemes funded by those universities (see credits on individual sheets).
- Abalone – 2 player strategy game. The objective is to push six of the opponent’s fourteen marbles off the edge of the hexagonal board following a set of simple rules. A good game but you don’t want too many sets. Many students like this.
- Bananagrams – 2-8 player word game. Using lettered tiles to spell words. Good for international students if you can find a group of a similar ability to play together.
- Blokus 3D/Blockus Giant/Blockus Trigon – 2-4 player strategy game. Involves placing polyomino-based tiles onto a board to capture available space. Giant version is great for several students to play and watch.
- Bluff – 2-6 player dice betting game like the South American game ‘Dudo!’, or ‘Liars Dice’. Involves rolling dice under a cup and ‘Bluffing’ about what you have. Relies equally on ability to lie and knowledge of probability.
- Callisto – 2-4 player game. Looks bright and childish but students that have played it have got a lot out of it. Easy to pick up but tricky to come up with the best strategy.
- Can’t Stop – 2-4 player game using dice rolls to progress pieces towards a goal. Straightforward concept with some slightly complex rules. Fun to play if you have the time.
- Chaos – 2 player strategy game. Involves stacking counters. Excellent strategy game but hard to learn. Takes longer than other games once both players understand the rules.
- Connect 4 – 2 player game where players must connect four of their counters in a row to win. A simple and easy game to play, has a lot of mathematical research applied to finding winning strategies.
- Cubulus – 2- or 3-player game where the aim is to create a square of four spheres in your colour on any face of the sphere.
- Gambit – 2 player strategy game. Involves sliding rows of coloured tiles. Enjoyable but not one of the most popular games.
- Gobblet – 2 player strategy game. Placing or moving already placed pieces, including larger pieces covering smaller ones, to make a row of four on a 4×4 grid. A good, easy to master, strategy game.
- Gygès – 2 player strategy game. The object of the game is to move a piece to your opponent’s last row. The catch is no one owns the pieces.
- Hex – 2 player game said to be invented by mathematician John Nash. It can be bought from Nestor Games (see below). Hex boards can also be made relatively easily or can be played on paper. See boardgamegeek for paper grid.
- Ingenious – 1-4 player strategy game. Placing tiles on a board with a clever scoring system. Good for strategy. Travel version is easier to play but full-size version can be watched by more students.
- Inside – 2-player game where the aim is to have more cubes of your colour showing on at least 2 of the sides. The person who has more of their colour on a side wins that side, then whoever wins the most sides wins.
- Joggle – 2 player strategy game. Dice-based placement of marbles on a board. First to build a 6 marble rectangle wins.
- Knight Moves – 2-player game where the aim is to get your sphere to the opposite side of the board, by moving it between your blocks.
- MiQube – 1-4 players. It can be played by one player reassembling the cube or as a board game encouraging strategic thinking. It encourages special thinking. A good review of MiQube on boardgamegeek.
- Neuron – 1-4 players. Similar to Tantrix but less complex rules. Aim is to make the longest line of your colour.
- Novem – 2 player tactical game. Lots of game theory involved in this. One person controls rows and the other columns and you try and capture tiles with the highest value. Strategy involves trying to work out what your opponent is going to do.
- Oshello (Othello, Reversi) – 2-player game where the aim is to have the most counters with your colour facing upwards at the end of the game. In order to turn more counters to your colour, you place one of your colours at both ends of a line of your opponent’s counters. This flips all enclosed counters to your colour. The position above is turned into the one below by the placement of one counter by white.
- Pentago – 2 player strategy game. Placing coloured marbles on a 6×6 board, the quadrants of which can be rotated, to form five in a row. Rules are easy to follow but the strategies take longer to assimilate. Excellent short game.
- Pylos – 2 player strategy game. Placing marbles to form a pyramid according to simple rules. Whoever places the top marble wins. Best with players of equal ability.
- Q-bitz – 2-4 player game. Three rounds based on speed, chance and memory. Arrange mini-cubes to make patterns. Good for encouraging symmetric visualisation.
- Quads magnetic – 2 player game. The tiles have different combinations of colours or lines. Players take turns placing a tile so that the colours or lines on each edge match that of adjacent tiles. The player who stops his or her opponent from being able to place a tile wins. Not played very much as yet.
- Quarto – 2-4 player strategy games. Object is to get a row of 4 pieces with the same attribute. The catch is that your opponent chooses your piece for you.
- Quirky – 2-3 player strategy game. Uses coloured tokens to build equilateral triangles. Not got the hang of this game yet! Instructions are not well-explained.
- Quixo – 2-4 player strategy game. Adding and shifting tokens to form five in a row. Excellent strategy game that requires 100% concentration.
- Quoridor – 2-4 player strategy game. Each player aims to move a pawn to the other side of the board but can place walls to obstruct their opponent. Good for programmers.
- Rubik’s cube/Hollow cube/Sudoku cube – The classic puzzle and variants. There are many books and websites explaining how to explain Group Theory using a Rubik’s Cube.
- Rubik’s 360 – Puzzle. Involves changing the position of six coloured balls in a central sphere to six coloured compartments in an outer sphere, by manoeuvring them through a middle sphere that only has two holes.
- Rubik’s magic – Puzzle. Folding connected tiles to form a pattern.
- Rumis – 2-4 player strategy game. Involves placing blocks onto a board as part of a 3D structure to capture available space. Not played much.
- Rush Hour – 1 or more player strategy game. The objective is to move a red car out of a six-by-six grid by moving the other vehicles out of its way. There are many variations on this including online versions and apps for iPads etc. Similar to Red Donkey.
- Saikoro – 2 player game with lots of dice. Easy to earn and demonstrated on ‘Board Games with Scott’. Involves finding a way of removing dice to trap your opponent.
- Set – 1-20 player card game. Similar to snap, win by finding sets of cards which form a pattern. Simple concept, fast paced and easy to learn. Good game for groups of people.
- Solomons Stones – 2 player strategy game. A variant on Nim’s game. Excellent for encouraging thinking and strategy and possibly not too difficult for the more able to program.
- Sprocket – 2-4 player strategy game. Using rotor pieces to create gears and lugs. An excellent strategy game once you have understood all the rules – not easy!
- Square up – Like Sam Lloyd’s 15-puzzle. We have developed a program in Excel that produces a random 5×5 grid as the provided 4×4 is too easy. This now means that we can have 6 people play together with the program.
- Stratum – 2-4 player strategy game. Trying to cover the opponents’ pieces by placing tiles. An excellent game for discussing what the best strategy is.
- Sudoku cards – 2-5 player strategy game. Involves placing numbered cards according to sudoku rules.
- Tantrix – 1-4 player strategy game. Hexagonal tile-based placement. Good but hard to teach complexities of rules and time consuming.
- Toscana – 2 player game, involves taking turns to place tiles on a grid. Simple game, easy to play and fun to approach with different strategies.
- Totemland – 2-4 player. Excellent strategy game. You build totem poles but you want to have as many of your pieces on top at the end. The rules of placing pieces make this harder than it seems. Excellent game.
- Tower of Hanoi – The classic puzzle
- Tri-Ominos – 2 -6 player game like dominoes. Involves taking turns to arrange triangular tiles to score points. Simple rules, easy to pick up quickly. Good for practicing simple addition.
- Yahtzee – 2-10 player dice game. Involves rolling dice to generate a high score. Gameplay relies heavily on probability. Easy to pick up, ideal for any size group.
- Yinsh – 2 player strategy game, won by making three rows of five ‘Markers’ before your opponent. It involves moving pieces across a grid following a simple set of rules. It may appear simplistic, but there is a lot to think about.
The classic games Backgammon, Chess, Draughts, Go, as well as playing cards are available at the Arcade but are not included in the list above.
Other resources
There are several websites that I have found useful for sourcing games and finding out about them although most of the above can be purchased via Amazon. Suggested initial list of games for Maths Arcade including prices accurate January 2013.
I recommend registering with Board Game Geek for their reviews and files containing English rules – necessary as often the translations provided are tricky to comprehend!
Board Games with Scott is another interesting resource with video instructions for some games.
Nestor Games has an excellent supply of unusual strategy games. If you try any please let me know.
