Board Game Project - Requesting Input, lots and lots of input!

Everything Else
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Hello everybody,

I am working on a new board game design and I need your help!

The game is called “Math is Harder”, the follow-up to the smash hit “Math is Hard”. Don’t bother looking for it, as I self-published only a dozen copies and only family and friends who attended Table Top Day 2015 received them. :wink:

In the game players will attempt to solve math equations which will be presented in the form of cards with an incomplete equation on it (i.e. _➕3=5). The player will use dice to fill in the equation (in the previous example the player would have to have a “2” die to finish the equation).

I will need a ton of cards and equations of varying difficulty, and that is why I am enlisting your help.

Here are the rules for creating equations.

  • Blanks need to be any whole, positive number from 1 to 6 (i.e. as rolled on a six-sided die).
  • Only use the basic operations (:heavy_plus_sign::heavy_minus_sign::heavy_multiplication_x:️:heavy_division_sign:).
  • You may include from one to four blank spaces so long as the equation is solvable.
  • Get as crazy as you want with these, but bear in mind that this game will need to be playable by kids, maybe 8 and up, so I may not use equations that are too difficult.
  • You may include blanks on the right side of the equal sign, but do not use any operations on the right of the equal sign (I.e. _✖️2=_ is fine but 4➖_=_➕2 is not).
  • Final answers should be a whole number (no decimals or fractions), and positive.
  • Please include with each submitted equation the number of possible combinations that will legally solve that equation (I.e. _➕_=2 has one possible combination where _➕_=4 has two combinations). You don’t need to include the actual combinations as I’ll need to review, check and confirm that all equations are solvable within the confines of the game.
  • I think I have most of the possible single blank equations as well as a good amount of the basic two-blank equations (so no need to submit _➕_=4).

I have set up a Google Sheet for people to enter their equation suggestions, and I’d love as much help as possible in filling it up. Anyone with the link can add equations. Feel free to add as many as you want.

Thanks in advance for any help!

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Sorry, math IS hard and I’ve no desire to put up with it. :innocent:
Looks like a heck of a project but I’m willing to bet somebody way smarter than me could write a program to produce those combinations.

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Question: can we use parentheses?

2X5-4 = 6 vs 2X(5-4) = 2

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You certainly could. I don’t know how confusing that would be for kids. Feel free to submit any equations you like, but I can’t promise hard ones will make it into the final game.

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I’ve played games with a child and adult set of cards so different levels of ability could be accommodated. It’s always nice to have games you can play with the kids that don’t give you as much of an unfair advantage or are too hard for the people with growing left to do or bore advanced readers to death.

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I think I just threw up in my mouth a little…

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I kind of really want this game. :slight_smile: I love doing math, and I’m hoping to get something like this to play with my kids as they grow up. Turning learning into a game (that is truly fun), will make HUGE differences for them in school.

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Once it’s further along with a couple of play tests under the belt I’ll post the rules along with print & play files.

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I don’t like the name :frowning: To me it throws a negative connotation on math. Why not “Math is Fun”, then “Math is Funner” and “Math is Funnerer” (it’s math, not English) and so on? You’ve made it a game!

I’ll take a look and see if I can add some equations this weekend. Cool idea.

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Well, it’s an ironic title. It’s supposed to be funny. Like when someone messes up a simple calculation and then does the D’Oh face palm then says “Math is Hard!”.

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Math is Harder took a backseat for a while, but I’m back to thinking about it/working on it, so I thought I would revive the thread and see if anyone wanted to add any more equations to the list! (especially now that there are more and more users on the forum every day!)

@dan is the only one to submit an equation so far.

I really appreciate any help you can give!

I’m getting to the point where I need to playtest, so I need to start working on my prototype. One nice thing about the game is that I can always just keep adding in equation cards, so keep the equations coming!

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