Learning Mathematics Through Games

with John Gough
< [email protected]>
Learning mathematics through games
Introduction is published in a surprisingly small tin, about

the size of a Keens mustard tin, and contains
Children, and adults enjoy playing games. Way a pack of special cards. The publishers say that
(2011) states that “experience tells us that games Iota is “the great big game in the teeny-weeny tin”.
can be very productive learning activities”. She Iota is designed by Gene Mackles, and
also raises the following questions: published by Gamewright (2012). In Europe,
• What should teachers say when asked to it is also known as Kwatro, and is published
educationally justify the use of games in by White Goblin.
mathematics lessons? Set, and Qwirkle are two other games with
• Are some games better than others? a similar theme to Iota, but they use larger
• What educational benefits are there to cards or special counters, and have different
be gained from games? rules. Iota seems to be slightly more focused,
When considering the use of games for and fortunately, easier to play, giving it an
teaching mathematics, educators should distin- edge over its close relatives.
guish between an ‘activity’ and a ‘game’. Gough
(1999) states that “A ‘game’ needs to have two or
more players, who take turns, each competing to
achieve a ‘winning’ situation of some kind, each
able to exercise some choice about how to move
at any time through the playing”. The key idea in
this statement is that of ‘choice’. In this sense,
something like Snakes and Ladders is not a game
because winning relies totally on chance. The play-
ers make no decisions, nor do they have to think
further than counting. There is also no interaction
between players, and nothing that one player does
affects other players’ turns in any way.
Iota
Building a set of pieces that share an attribute is
a common feature of many classic games, such as
Rummy, Mahjong, Rummi-kub, and even Connect
Four. Iota is another example of these types of Figure 1. Set and Qwirkle games.
classic games, but, interestingly, it combines some

of the features of two-dimensional dominoes, and Equipment
crosswords. Players score points by adding match- Iota uses a special pack of attribute cards. Each
ing cards to a vertical and horizontal grid. Iota card is either red, yellow, green, or blue; it
Iota, as the ninth letter of the Greek letter, shows either a circle, square, triangle, or a cross;
means an ‘extremely small amount’. The Iota game and it is numbered 1, 2, 3, or 4. The complete
10 amt 71(4) 2015

set includes two wild cards, which are identical or extended in this turn. A card that is part of
and blank. The 'tame' cards are unique from two lines (one horizontal, and the other vertical)
one another. That is, an Iota pack consists of is counted twice in this scoring. That score for
64 unique regular cards plus 2 wild cards. the turn is doubled for each line of 4 cards that
is completed in the turn. Double this again if the
Number of players player uses all 4 of his or her cards in this turn.
2 to 4. The maximum length of a row or column is
four cards.
Aim When a player passes, they return one or more
Players aim to score the most points in a game by of their cards to the bottom of the remaining pack,
placing cards in a row or column, so that cards in and draw new cards, face-down, from the top of the
a row or column all share one attribute. pack to replace the card or cards returned.
It is important to understand how lines are
Preparation formed using the match-or-not rule.
Shuffle the cards, and deal 4 cards, face-down, to Adjacent pairs of cards have either one or
each player. Deal one card, face-up, in the middle more of their attributes the same, or else none.
of the table —the Starter. Place the remaining stock This means that it is possible to make pairs freely.
of undealt cards face-down at the side of the table. However, before adding a third (or fourth) card
to an existing line of two (or three), consider the
Playing possible addition.
Players takes turns, with turns passing clockwise Does that possible new third (or fourth)
around the table. In each turn a player either card have:
places or passes. • The same colour as the other cards in the
When a player places, the player puts 1, 2, 3 or line, or are they all different?
4 of his or her cards on the table, in a single line, • The same shape as the other cards in the
fitting it beside one or more of the cards already line, or are they all different?
played, according to the basic matching-rule, that • The same number as the other cards in
rows or columns of adjacent cards must all share the line, or are they all different?
at least one attribute, or, must have no shared If the answer to any of these match-or-not ques-
attribute. This is the fundamental match-or-not tions is ‘No’, then the possible new card cannot
rule of Iota. be added to that line.
The player then records his or her score, and The official rules do not explain how a wild
completes the turn by drawing as many cards as card may be used: presumably, when played, it
needed, from the remaining stock of unused cards can represent any specified card. In later turns,
(if any cards remain), so the player finishes the presumably, it must still represent the same card
turn holding 4 cards (if possible). or, perhaps, not, leaving it free to be given different
When placing a card or cards, all cards placed attributes. Alternatively, play the game without the
must be part of a single straight line (horizontal wild cards, to simplify the game.
or vertical), with at least one of the placed cards When no more turns are possible, the player
connecting (being horizontally or vertically adja- with the highest score wins the game.
cent) to one of the cards already placed in the
grid in a previous turn. Variants
It is possible that some of the cards placed in A simpler version of the game omits scoring: the
the turn may also add to or create another line. winner is then the first player able to use all of
For example, one of the cards being placed may their cards after the unused stock of cards is
be horizontally adjacent to another card already emptied by drawing fresh cards at the end of each
in the grid created in previous turns, but other turn, or is the player with fewest remaining cards
cards being placed are vertically adjacent to this when no further turns are possible.
placed card. Figure 2 shows an in-progress game of Iota.
It is also possible to create or extend a line by The game shown is incomplete but the layout of the
adding cards at both ends of the line. cards identifies some of the rules that have been
The player scores by adding the numerical applied. Note the face-down stock of unused cards
face-value of all cards in the line or lines created at the bottom right, and the hint of unused cards
71(3) 2015
amt 71(4) 11
in the player’s hand, at the top left. Can you tell at all. (This would need to be tweaked so that the
how many cards have been played? two colours of a standard 52-card pack of playing
Iota, like Set and Qwirkle, is a descendant of cards are ignored in deciding when a set of four
the many attribute domino and matrix-pattern cards has no match.)
games that were popular during the era of New Incidentally, the match-or-no-match rule
Maths, using sets of plastic attribute blocks, has been borrowed from Set, a 1988 card game
where each block was a particular shape (circle, that evolved from Marsha Falco’s work in genetic
square, oblong, or triangle), a particular colour coding. Set uses a pack of cards consisting of
(red, blue or yellow), a particular size (big or small), combinations of colours, shapes, and shadings,
and a particular thickness (thick or thin). Sets each consisting of three different types: green,
of sturdy attribute blocks were manufactured by purple and red; oval, diamond and squiggle; and
Invicta. These blocks were popularised by the great solid, shaded and outlined. The Scrabble-like
mathematics education pioneer Zoltan Dienes, who grid-play of horizontal and vertical lines has been
may have actually created the basic design of these borrowed from Qwirkle.
'logic blocks'.
However, all of these games used a traditional
match-or-miss-a-turn rule. By contrast, the References
misere-like possibility of Iota’s match-or-no-match Gough, J. (1999). Playing mathematical games: When is
rule adds a twist that opens and sustains the a game not a game? Australian Primary Mathematics
Classroom. 4(2), 12–15.
playing very effectively. Iota’s rule also suggests a Way, J. (2011). Learning Mathematics Through Games
twist on standard Rummy, and similar set-making Series: 1. Why Games? Retrieved 5 August 2015
from http://nrich.maths.org/2489
games, aiming to make sets that have no matches
12 amt 71(4) 2015

Learning Mathematics Through Games

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with John Gough

Learning mathematics through games

Introduction is published in a surprisingly small tin, about

classic games, but, interestingly, it combines some

10 amt 71(4) 2015

12 amt 71(4) 2015

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