Great Game for School or Home!

by Suzette Hemberger Mar 28, 2007

24/7 is a beautifully-made game (smooth heavy tiles, striking red glass beads, velvet drawstring bag) that is both fun and challenging to play. The game is quick (about 1/2 an hour) and the rules are simple and easy to learn and teach.

I’ve played this game at home one-on-one with an adult friend who loved it (she’s an accountant) as well as with my usual gaming buddies (9 year old daughter, 20-something friend who works in a toystore, 40-something husband), all of whom enjoyed it. My daughter and I also donated a copy to her school’s morning math games program. Everytime we get it out to play, the other 2 seats are instantly claimed (sometimes I relinquish my own spot to let a third kid play instead). Typically, it’s 3rd graders (my daughter’s classmate) who join us, but we do have a very math-oriented 1st grader who regularly joins us and often wins. And I’m confident enough that most 2nd graders can play (by the Spring) that I’ve just sent a copy to my nephew’s classroom.

While the game itself requires only basic addition skills (up to 24), scoring (which could easily be left to an adult if necessary) involves multiplication. The scoresheet is very well designed from a math-teaching perspective. It involves minimal work while you’re playing (simple tallying), it makes the logic of multiplication clear (did something multiple times), and provides experience with multiplying larger numbers using place value and then with adding them.

One tip I’d offer for teachers who are considering this game (or any other!) for classroom use is that team, cooperative, and/or coached play – any situation in which an individual isn’t silently assessing his or her own options – generally makes games more educational. It pushes kids to be explicit about their reasoning (so they can explain it to others) and to survey more options (hence do more math). This approach also stretches your budget for games because it turns a 4 player game into an 8 player game with kids working in pairs and making decisions together.