Playing(Mathematics)Games:WhenisaGamenotaGame?

DrJohnGoughDeakinUniversity(BurwoodCampus)retired
jagough49@gmail.com

[FromAustralianPrimaryMathematicsClassroom(APMC),vol.4,no.2,
1999,pp1217.]
Whenisamathematics'game'notagame?Imaginewehavea3x3grid,asfor
Noughts&Crosses,andninebottletops,numbered1to9.Onepersoncanbe
askedtoplaceonebottletopineachcellofthe3x3grid,sothateveryrowof
threecells,everycolumnofthreecells,andthetwodiagonalsadduptoatotal
of15.Yes,thisisthefamiliarMagicSquaretask.Icallthiskindofthinga
puzzle.Itcanbemadetofeellikeagame,ifthe'player'istoldnottomove
anybottletopthathasalreadybeenplaced,untilallhavebeenplaced;then,if
oneofthecorrect'winning'patternshasnotyetbeenmade,thereafterthe
playerisallowedtoswapanytwoofthebottletops.Buteventhoughthereis
nowone'player',anddefined'turns'or'rounds'ofplay,anda'winning'
position,itisstillapuzzle.Tetris,thecomputergame,isapuzzlerace,a
puzzlewitharandomisingelementandatimelimit.Ifyouthinkofitasa
game,whoareyouplayingagainst?Howdoestheopponentwinthegame?
A'game'needstohavetwoormoreplayers,whotaketurns,eachcompeting
toachievea'winning'situationofsomekind,eachabletoexercisesome
choiceabouthowtomoveatanytimethroughtheplaying.Snakesand
Laddersisnota'game':eventhoughtheplayerstake'turns',andthefirsttothe
endisthe'winner',theplayershavenochoiceaboutwhattheycandointheir
turntheyjustfollowthedice,plusthepossibleconsequencesofendingona
ladderorsnake.Pureluck.Nochoice.Nointeractionbetweenplayers,sothat
whatIdoinmyturncaneffectwhatyoucandoinyourturn.
Agenuinegamecanhaveanelementofluck,fromadice,spinner,coin,or
drawofcardordomino.Butno'game'is100%luck.Playersmustbeableto
choosehowtousetheirluck,ashappensfrequentlyinthedicedrivengames
MonopolyandBackgammon.ButBackgammon,nomorethanaglorified
versionofLudo,itselfaversionofSnakesandLadders,isonlyplayedby
adultsbecauseoftheextrainterestthatcomesfromthegamblingrelatedto
whowillwin,andatwhatagreedodds.Ibelieveanygamethatrelieson
gamblingtomakeitinteresting(poker,21,andTwoUpspringtomind)has
noplaceinasociallyresponsibleschoolcurriculum.Theexceptionisthe
studyofgamblingwithintheprobability(orChanceandData)curriculum,
showingthattheoddsofthecasinoorhousecontrollingthegamearerigged
againsttheplayerstomakeaprofit!
IsitclearwhatIhaveinmindbytheword'game'?

TheMagicSquarepuzzlebecomesareal'game'whentwoplayerstakeitin
turnstoplaceoneoftheunusedbottletopsinanyoftheemptycellsofthe3x3
grid.Theloseristhefirstplayerwhoisforcedtoplaceoneofthebottletops
sothatthenumbersinoneormoreofthecolumns,rowsordiagonalscannot
adduptotherequiredtotal,or,alternatively,bothplayerswinifthenumbers
areallsatisfactorilyplacedandthemagicsquarepatternisjointlyachieved.
(VersionsofthisgamearecalledFifteensandFifteensAll,inHillandGough
1992p34).
Suchgamescanbereversed,inwhichcasetheplayingstrategyisaltered,and
thegamethinkingmustchange.Whatwouldbea'win'inoneversionofa
gameisdefinedtobeawayoflosing.Thisisthe'misere'versionofthe
originalgame.Misereversionscanbedevisedforalmostanygame,witha
dramaticchangeintheplayingstrategiesandthinking.Forexample,Misere
DraughtsisaversionofDraughtsinwhichthewinneristhefirstplayerto
loseallofhisorherpieces:aplayermustjumpifitispossibletodoso.
MisereNoughtsandCrossesmakesthewinnerbethefirstplayerwhodoes
notcompletearoworcolumnordiagonalofallXsorallOs.
Bingo,althoughitsharesmanyfeaturesofagame,isnota'game',bythis
definition.Playershavenochoiceaboutwhattodowhenanumberiscalled:
theyeitherhaveordonothavethenumberpureluck.Clearlyskill,and
choiceareimportantaspectsofarealgame,althoughofcoursesomegames
combinethiswithsomeamountofluck.Similarly'races',wheretwoormore
playerseachtrytobethefirsttocorrectlyansweramathematicsquestion,are
not'games':whatoneplayerdoesinaturndoesnoteffectwhatanotherplayer
candointhenextturn,except,perhaps,toeliminateoneormoreunsuccessful
player.LikewiseBuzzisnotagame.Canyouseewhynot?
Oneexceptiontothesegeneralgamecharacteristicsistheguessmysecret
game,wherelogicandsuccessiveroundsofcunningquestionandelimination
aimtodiscovera'secret'.Mastermindistheclassiccommerciallypublished
logicgamewhichfitsthispattern.Dictionary,alittlelikeHangman,is
another,lesswellknown,buteasiertoplay.Oneplayerchoosesawordtobe
thesecret'target',andotherplayerstaketurnstoguessthesecretwordby
suggestingaparticularguessedword,andbeingtoldbytheseceretkeeper
whetherornoteachguessedwordcomesalphabeticallybeforeorafterthe
secretword,justlikethebetterknownGuessMyNumbergame,wherethe
personwithasecretchoosesasecretnumberbetween0and10000(Gough,
1992p25,HillandGough,1993,p.81).
Adangerinusingmathematicsgamestointroduceaconcept(suchasusing
Battleshipstostartchildrenthinkingaboutcoordinates),ortopractisea
conceptformallytreatedbyordinaryclassroominstruction:studentsmaybe
sodistractedbytheirnaturalinterestinplayingtowin,thattheyfailtofocus

onthemathematics.Forexample,theymayusecoordinates,withoutreally
learningaboutthem.Worse:withBattleshipsorstreetdirectoryletterdigit
coordinates,theletterpartcanneverbeconfusedforthenumberpart,
howevermuchfun,whichispoorconceptualpreparationforusingnumber
numberor(x,y)Cartesiancoordinateswheretheorderofthetwocoordinate
partsreallymatters.
Arelateddangerislearningincorrectlessons.Forexample,childrenplaying
Ludoneedtorolla6beforebringingacounterintoplayfromtheirHome
Base.Givenseeminglyinterminablewaitsfora6,childrencanmislearnthat
a6ishardertoroll,usinganordinarydice,thananyoftheothernumbers
(whicharenotsocriticallynecessaryinLudo).
Iamnotsuggestingthatnon'games',suchasBuzz,shouldnotbeusedas
learningorpracticeactivities,althoughwithBuzztheprocessofelimination
meansthattheweakerstudentswhowouldbenefitfromBuzzexperienceare
theonessoonestleftwanlywatching.Sochangetherulessothattheyhave,
say,'ninelives'beforebeingeliminated.SimilarlyBingocanprovidegood
practice,andstudentscanenjoyit.Buttherearemoreimportantissues.
Thebestgamesarethosethatstudentsspontaneouslychoosetoplaywhen
timeisavailable.Idoubtthatanychildrenintheirrightmindwouldchooseto
play,say,TablesRaces,orFractionBingo,orBuzz,ormanyotherstandard
mathematicspracticegames,exceptinapleasetheteacherschoolcontext.
YetmanystudentswillinglyplayChess,Draughts,Ludo,Scrabble,
Buccanneer,500,Monopolyandothergames.Apartfromthearithmetic
involvedinscoring,andproblemsolvingindevelopinggoodplaying
strategies,studentsarerarelyawareofmathematicsinthesegames,andregard
themasnonmathematical.(Whereisthe'mathematics'in,say,Scrabble?Far
morethanjustscoring!)
Betterstill,althoughtheyinvolveagreatdealofrepetitivepractice,these
gamesarenotmerelygoodforpractice.Studentstypicallylearntoplaythese
gamesbyactuallyplayingthem.Goodgamesareinthemselveslearning
experiences,notmerelypracticeexperiences.Veryyoungstudentsgain
invaluableexperiencewithalphabeticalorderbyplayingDictionary,without
firstrequiringthemtolearntheiralphabet.Thegamebecomesacontextin
whichstudentsarekeentolearnsomethingnew.Playingincludesalotof
practising.Learningcanbeconcurrent,andneednotbedonebeforeplaying,
orlearningtoplaythegame.
Nowforanexample.Mancalaisastrategyboardgamefortwoplayers.Itis
alsoknownasWari,Owari,Swahili,Pitfall,andmanyothernames.Thegame
maygobackasfarasAncientEgypt.Versionsarenowplayedalmost
everywherethatAfricansorMuslimshavespreadacrosstheworld,from

AfricatoHawaii,WestIndies,IndonesiaandthePhilippines.Amazingly,the
gameislittleknownintheEnglishspeakingworld,despitethehigh
reputationithaswithsuchgameenthusiastsasR.C.Bell,SidSackson,and
HerbertKohl.TheversionIgivehereisasimplificationHerbKohlmade,
fromaPhilippineversion,forhisclassesofAfroAmericanstudentsinNew
Yorkghettoschools.'NoneofthechildrenhadplayedWaribeforeandso
[unlikewithchess]everyonestartedoutasequals'(Kohl1974p156).
InterestinglyHowardGardner(inFramesofMind,1983pp161162),
discussinganaspectofnumbersense,says'Ifoneislookingforinstances
ofhighlydevelopednumericalabilityinAfrica,thebestplacetolookisina
gamesuchaskala[mancala]apitandpebblesgameconsideredthemost
arithmeticalgamewithamassfollowinganywhereintheworld'.
WhereisthemathematicsinMancala?Anyboardgameposesspatial
thinkingproblems,andtactical(howtodobestinthismove?)andstrategic
(howtodobestthroughasequenceofmoves?)problems.Canweevaluatethe
mathematicslearningthatoccursaschildrendeveloptheirplayingskill?We
canstartbyaskingchildrentoreflectonwhattheythinktheyarelearning,and
thentotrytoidentifywhatkindsofmathematicstheyareawareofusingas
theyplay.Arechildrenbeginningtoplanahead,toanticipatetheresponsesof
theiropponents,andlessoftenstruckby'IwishIcouldhavethatmoveback
again'reactions?Ifthegameisgenuinelysuccessful,childrenwillchooseto
playitintheirgenuinelysparetime,makingtheirownsettoplaythegameat
home,andteachingthegametoparentsandfriends.
Whyplayagame,suchasMancala,insteadofsomethinglikeFraction
Dominoes,TimeBingo,orTablesRaces,orFifteenAll,wherearithmeticand
numberfactsarefarmoreprominent?Thisdepends.Ifyouwantdedicated
practice,playamoremathematicallydedicatedgame.Wecanalsojustify
teachinggamesbecausestudentsneedtouserecreationtimeeffectively
now,andasadults.WeneedaRecreationcurriculumwhich,forreasonsof
culturalcontinuityandsocialcohesion,includesthebestoftheworld'sgreat
games,suchaschess,draughts,go,dominoes,500,ninemen'smorris,and
mancala,forexample.Theseareveryenjoyabletoplay,intheirownright,of
courseotherwisetheywouldnotbegreatworldgames.Theyalsoentaillots
of(sometimessubconsciously)intuitivemathematics.
Players
2
Board MiniMancalaplayingboard,orhalfaneggcartonandtwolarger
cups.

Equipment Beads,marbles,shells,beans,orsuitablecounters.
Aim
Theplayerwhoendswiththemostbeadsbymovingaround
theboardaccordingtotherules,placingandcapturing,isthewinner.
SettingUp Atthestart,placethreebeadsineachsmallcup.
Playing
Playerstaketurns.Ineachturnaplayerpicksupallthe
countersinanyoneofthesmallcupsonhisorhersideoftheboard.Then,
movingclockwisearoundtheboard,theplayer'sows'oneofthesetofpicked
upbeadsineachsuccessivecup,untilallthepickedupbeadshavebeen
'sown',like'sowing'seedsinsmallholesintheground.Ifapiecelandsinone
oftheplayer'sHomeCupsthatthenstaysthereasapointforthatplayer.If,
also,attheendofamove,thelastpiecelandsinwhathadupuntilthenbeen
anemptycupofthatplayer's,thenalloftheopponent'sbeadsinthecup
immediatelyopposite(aboveorbelow,ontheboard)are'captured',thatis
theyareremovedfromthatcupandplacedinthemovingplayer'sHomeCup,
addingtothefinalscoreforthatplayer.
Scoring
Thegameendswhenoneplayerhasnomorepiecesonhisor
herside.ThisplayerscoresthenumberofbeadsinhisorherHomeCup.The
otherplayer,whohassomebeadsleftonhisorhersideoftheboard,scores
thenumberofbeadsinhisorherHomeCup,minusthenumberofbeadsleft
intheothercups.
Variations
Playwithsixsmallcupsoneachside,andstartwith3,or4,or
5beadsineachsmallcup.Foranevensimplergame,startplaywiththree
smallcupsoneachside,andonly2beadsineachsmallcup.
ReferencesandFurtherReading
Bell,R.C.(1960).BoardandTableGames,OxfordUniversityPress,London.
DiagramGroup,(1975)TheWayToPlay,PaddingtonPress,London.
Gardner,H.(1983).FramesofMind:TheTheoryofMultipleIntelligences,
BasicBooks:HarperCollins,NewYork.
Gough,J.(1992).'Dictionary',PrimeNumber,vol.7no.4,p.25.
Hill,T.,Gough,J.(1992).WorkitOutWithMathsGames,OxfordUniversity
Press,Melbourne.
Kohl,H.R.(1974).Math,Writing&GamesintheOpenClassroom,Random
House,NewYork.
Sackson,S.(1969).AGamutofGames,CastleBooks,NewYork.
31MathematicalGamesfortheClassroom,AAMT,undated.