Math Games with Bad Drawings: 75 1/4 Simple, Challenging, Go-Anywhere Games…

Price: $30.00 - $19.93
(as of Feb 05, 2025 12:32:47 UTC – Details)

Bestselling author and worst-drawing artist Ben Orlin expands his oeuvre with this interactive collection of mathematical games. With 70-plus games, each taking a minute to learn and a lifetime to master, this treasure trove will delight, educate, and entertain.
From beloved math popularizer Ben Orlin comes a masterfully compiled collection of dozens of playable mathematical games.This ultimate game chest draws on mathematical curios, childhood classics, and soon-to-be classics, each hand-chosen to be (1) fun, (2) thought-provoking, and (3) easy to play. With just paper, pens, and the occasional handful of coins, you and a partner can enjoy hours of fun—and hours of challenge.
Orlin’s sly humor, expansive knowledge, and so-bad-they’re-good drawings show us how simple rules summon our best thinking.
Games include:

Ultimate Tic-Tac-ToeSproutsBattleshipQuantum Go FishDots and BoxesBlack HoleOrder and ChaosSequenciumPaper BoxingPropheciesArpeggiosBankerFrancoprussian LabyrinthCats and DogsAnd many more.
From the Publisher
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black Dog & Leventhal (April 5, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0762499869
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0762499861
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 1.45 x 11.55 inches

Reviewer: LoRider
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Book is as Interesting as the Games
Review: This book is just fun – both the games and the writing! These games involve the deep level logical thinking that is at the heart of mathematics – it is not basic arithmetic games. Even if you don’t play a single game, the book is so witty, entertaining and insightful that it’s worth reading anyway. I found parts laugh out loud funny.I bought this book the day before our family went on a trip, but I didn’t get to read it as much as intended because my twelve year old son confiscated it and read it cover-to-cover. This book turned out to be a perfect travel companion – my family played games like Quantum Go-Fish, Dandelions, Win-Lose-Banana, Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe and Sprouts in the car and at the airport. Even my eight year old son has requested to play these games again and has gotten our family playing Quantum Go Fish at dinner. Read the book because it’s interesting, play the games because they’re fun, and find yourself smarter in the end – the way all good learning happen.
Reviewer: Amy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great classroom addition!
Review: Ben Orlin makes math fun and accessible with this collection of games, complete with his clever drawings! This is a great resource for bringing some fun new ideas to math class— excited to get my middle schoolers playing!
Reviewer: Mr. Stephen Holmes
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: One of the best books about math I have worked with
Review: I teach middle school and high school mathematics. One of my students’ parents mentioned this book to me. It looked intriguing so I got a copy. Spoiler alert: It has been revolutionary in my math teaching.The games are very easily explained, even to squirrely seventh-graders, who can start playing almost right away but soon discover what appears to be a simple game actually has lots of twists and turns and strategies. I just finished playing one with a group of 30 kids (the combination game “Neighbors”) and it was a huge success. We played three games and the kids’ strategies completely changed by the end of the third game. You could watch their minds take in information, think it over, and come up with new plans. At the end, a student said, “That was so much fun! We should do that every Friday!”I agree with the author that current math curriculum is dreadfully boring. This book of games brings the beauty and joy of math back into the classroom. I especially love how he relates the games to real-world situations which require similar thought processes.I feel it should be part of everyone’s math curriculum. Heck, it should be part of every curriculum; it covers ideas in science, statistics, government, physics, and more! If you are a teacher, you won’t be disappointed.
Reviewer: Daniela Tirnovan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Just get it ! That’s all I will say!
Review: Best book out there for fun math games with an easily digestible background on it
Reviewer: Blue Moon
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A great collection of games
Review: This is a great collection of games, like an encyclopedia of paper and pencil games. Great resource to have for anyone with kids. Games like this make kids smarter. The author includes interesting historical notes and fun variations of the popular games you might already know.
Reviewer: MrsChris
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Love this kit!
Review: My 9 year-old and I really enjoy these math games! Even my 4 year-old can play some of them. The handy white boards, markers, and other tools make it an easy, portable learning game. I would recommend!
Reviewer: elliesan77
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: So much fun
Review: I originally backed this book on Kickstarter and was pleasantly surprised when I received this hefty tome of games. The games are so much fun and remind me all the old paper games I used to play as a kid. My daughter loves playing them with me and doesn’t believe that any of them are actually math games. I have since bought 3 more copies to give as gifts.
Reviewer: l
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Buy the book also! They’re great together!
Review: Fabulous. This and especially the book, Math Games with Bad Drawings, were hands-down my 10 year old’s favorite Christmas gifts. We have played at least a dozen games. They are all fun, pleasant “brain teasers”, not difficult.
Reviewer: Sheri Raines
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: My son, who is 9, loves math. This is right up his alley and he is enjoying it so much. It is important to note that almost all of the games and activities require more than one person, so if this will be given to an only child it will probably be the parent who will need to participate.The book does a good job of bringing math to life and making it fun along the way.
Reviewer: Can Onur
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Great book, English level might be challenging for non-native speakers in young ages but with adult supervision, 8 and 9 year olds can manage.
Reviewer: S. Nowozin
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: My son (9 years) is hugely enjoying this book and it really is a great way to see how diverse and fun math can be.Pro tip if giving as a gift: buy this book but also buy paper with square grid, as you will need it for many games.
Reviewer: sascha
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Leuk boek om af en toe er even bij te pakken
Reviewer: Maurizio Codogno
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Vabbè, Ben Orlin e i suoi disegni brutti non hanno bisogno di presentazioni. I giochi qui presenti (non sono davvero 75 1/4: alla fine c’è tutta la spiegazione di come è arrivato a quel numero) mi erano in parte noti ma generalmente sconosciuti: Orlin si muove nel sottile crinale tra non spiegare assolutamente le possibili strategie e dare troppe spiegazioni. La struttura secondo me è anche ottima, non tanto per la suddivisione in capitoli a seconda della matematica che sta dietro il gioco quanto per le variazioni indicate alla fine di ogni gioco e che spesso sono giochi dalla strategia completamente diversa. Ma soprattutto quella che mi è piaciuta è la parte “perché è importante” alla fine della spiegazione di ogni gioco. Spesso quando giochiamo non vogliamo farci tanti problemi: ma se uno è un matematico dentro, a volte i problemi sono più divertenti del gioco stesso, e sapere quali sono i temi matematici toccati può essere utile.Ricordo che esiste anche la scatola con gli strumenti per giocare, se uno è un collezionista 🙂