Four-in-a-Row Multiplication Game
by
Peter Aronson
Introduction
This is a little board game I designed to drill my kids on single-digit
multiplication. It was designed for children who already knew how
to multiply, but hadn't memorized their multiplication tables yet.
It was reasonably popular with both my kids, and seemed to do them
some good. It also teaches some spatial reasoning.
Equipment
The game requires the following equipment:
Rules of Play
This is a game for two players.
The Goal
The goal of the game is to be the first player to create three
or more lines (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) of four of their
markers in a row. A player is given a scoring token when they
complete a line, so a player wins when they have three scoring
tokens.
To Start
At the beginning of the game, the board is empty and neither
player has any score markers. The cards are shuffled, and
three cards are dealt to each player.
The Turn
On a player's turn, they either:
-
Select two cards from their hand and multiply their values
(if either card is a wild card, they assign that card a value
between 2 and 9 first), and place a marker of their color
on an unoccupied square containing the resulting number
(product).
IE, if they played a 2 and an 8, they could place a marker
on any of the three squares containing a 16, as long as there
was not already a marker on that square.
-
Simply discard two cards from their hand without placing
a marker (this would usually only be done if all possible
squares that they could play a piece to were already
occupied).
They then draw two cards, and end their turn. If the draw
deck is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile and make it the
new draw deck.
Scoring
Whenever a player completes a line of four markers in a
row (left-right, up-down or diagonal) they score a point
and remove all of the markers making up the four-in-a-row
from the board. So if the Gray player were to place a token
on the square with a 40 on it on the left side of the board
(shown in white below) by playing an 8 card and a 5 card,
then they would earn a scoring token, and their markers would
be removed from the squares marked 81, 32, 72 and 40.
More than one four-in-a-row can be formed by a single move.
If the Red player were to place a marker on the 40 near the
center of the board (marked in blue), they would complete
two four-in-a-rows at the same time, earning two scoring
tokens.
Two or more four-in-a-rows can be formed by forming a single,
longer line. If the Gray player were place a marker on the
20 near the center of the second from the bottom line (marked
in white), they would form two four-in-a-rows: one covering
56-28-42-20, and one covering 28-42-20-28.
Lines can not contain gaps or opposing pieces. The Red marked
squares on the right side of the board below do not form a
four-in-a-row as the Gray piece on the 9 marked square prevents it.
Notes
Since the multiplication products on this game's board are not arranged
as to allow the products to be determined by simple lookup (as in some
multiplication games), this game requires the players to be able to
perform single-digit multiplication to play. This is by intent, since
this game was designed, among other things, to drill the players on
their multiplication, to help them get to the point where they would
know the product of any two single-digit numbers without having to
think about it.
One possible issue with this game may be that the multiplication
required is much easier than the strategy required to play well, and
that a child young enough to need the single-digit multiplication
drill, may not be old enough to enjoy the strategy game aspects.
WWW page created: January 18th, 2004.