Monkey Puzzle
(The square maths game)
Players: 2+
Time: minutes per round
Complexity: 8/10
Setup
This game requires: 16 random numbered cubes from the bag and a pen and paper for each player.
Deal out 16 random cubes from the bag into a 4×4 grid on the table in whichever orientation they are pulled from the bag.
If any wildcubes are dealt, replace them with a numbered cube.
Give each player some paper and pen on which to write their workings.
Show picture of a board
8803
8556
4658
9141
Aim of the game
The aim of the game is to get the highest score by forming unique equations from the numbers on the top of the 4x4 grid.
How to play
Once the 16 cubes have been dealt out, start a timer for 3 minutes.
Each player is looking to write down equations on their piece of paper, using the numbers on the top of the 4×4 grid, combined with the mathematical operators (+, –, ×, ÷, =). Each number cube and each mathematical operator can only be used once each per equation.
These equations are made by connecting a sequence of adjacent numbers horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Each number cube can only be used once, and the numbers must be connected in the order they are used in the equation.
Between each number in the sequence, one of the following mathematical operators must appear +, –, ×, ÷
An equals is written between the penultimate and final numbers in the sequence to give an equation which makes mathematical sense.
Give examples from the example picture on the board.
3+5=8
4+1=5
8–4+1=5
5+5–4=6
There are a few additional maths rules:
The equation can not minus or divide by a number which has been used elsewhere in the equation (e.g. you could not have 5+8–8=5, or 4×5÷5=4 in the example above).
A player can not multiply or divide by 1. (e.g. you could not have 1×5=5 or 4÷1=4 in the example above)
0 is not used in the same way as the other numbers. Instead, no mathematical operator is used ahead of 0 and it turns the preceding number in the sequence into 10 times that number. (e.g. you could have 5×6=30 in the example above.) Only one 0 can be used in a single equation.
Brackets can be used anywhere in the equation. (e.g. you could have 5×(4+8)÷6–1=9 in the example above)
Once the timer has run out, next to their equations, each player writes the numbers used in numerical order
For example:
next to 3+5=8, the player writes 358
next to 4+1=5, the player writes 145
next to 8–4+1=5, the player writes 1458
next to 5+5–4=6, the player writes 4556
next to 5×6=30, the player writes 0356
5×(4+8)÷6–1=9, the player writes 145689
The players then take it in turns to read out these numbers to all other players. If anyone else in the game has the same set of numbers, then all players who had an equation with those exact numbers, cross out that equation and it does not score.
If the exact numbers read out by a player have not been found by any of the other players, they explain the equation formed by these numbers and score the number of points below.
3 numbers used: 1 point
4 numbers used: 2 points
5 numbers used: 3 points
6 numbers used: 4 points
7 numbers used: 5 points
So if no other player had the following equations they would score the following points:
next to 3+5=8, the player writes 358 and 1 point
next to 4+1=5, the player writes 145 and 1 point
next to 8–4+1=5, the player writes 1458 and 2 points
next to 5+5–4=6, the player writes 4556 and 2 points
next to 5×6=30, the player writes 0356 and 2 points
5×(4+8)÷6–1=9, the player writes 145689 and 4 points
Players then add up the number of points, and the player with the highest number of points wins.
Possible alternative rules
Play multiple rounds, the first player to a certain score (e.g. 50) is crowned the winner.
Play multiple rounds (e.g. 4), the player with the highest score after that many rounds is crowned the winner.
Numbers next to each other in the same colour can be concatenated together (like the 0 in the regular game)
Finished one game? Let the winner make a new rule and play again!
And, as always, add any other rules you like to have more fun!