When it comes to searching for the perfect math games for kids, most instructors are under the impression that the “perfect game” is one that requires students to memorize formulas and press buttons on the screen. In truth, according to Calli Wright, “math is not just about numbers and formulas and games are one way we can experience the beauty of math all around us.”
As such, to help our fellow instructors here in 2019, we organized this list of top 20 math games for kids based on game type, suitable age groups, as well as on the following characteristics:
- Easy to Learn – The rules are easy to learn and take no more than 10 minutes (or so) to understand
- Challenging to Win – It takes more than luck and memorization in order to win
- Fun for the Whole Family – Even if a family member is not actively participating in the game, he or she can still enjoy watching others play while learning something from it
This way, regardless as to whether or not you’re a “professional math teacher,” anyone can teach their child to love math. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the top 20 math games for kids.
Table of Contents
Math Board Games
Ages 5+
Ice Cool
Ice Cool is an award-winning board game created by Brain Games Publishing to help children develop fine motor skills and understand how geometry (more specifically, angles) works.
In this game, children flick their penguin piece(s) across the board and through doorways to collect fish or chase other players in order to win the game.
Cost: $20 to $70
# of Players: 2 – 4
App: No
Achi
Achi is a tic-tac-toe style Ghanese board game in which players move their pieces to adjacent spaces until a 3-in-a-row is formed in order to win.
To win the game, players can move their pieces horizontally, vertically, or even diagonally while exercising their logic and geometry skills.
Cost: $10 or less
# of Players: 2
App: Yes
Robot Turtles
Robot Turtles is a fun and fast customizable game created by Dan Shapiro to help kids build their fundamental programming skills.
In order to win, the “older turtle” or adult, in this case, must listen to whatever their “children” tell them to in order to get the jewel, which marks the end of the game.
According to Amazon, this game was inspired by the Logo programming language.
Cost: $10 to $20
# of Players: 2 – 5
App: Yes
Ages 7+
Mobi-Math Game
The Mobi-Math Game is a Scrabble-inspired math game created by Vanessa and Mark Ellingson in order to teach kids how to comfortably make and solve their own equations.
To win the game, players must use as many of the blue tiles as they possibly could, which of course involves a lot of strategizing and creativity.
Cost: $15 to $20
# of Players : 2 – 6
App: No
Dara
Dara is an ancient Nigerian board game in which the object of the game is to capture as many of their opponent’s pieces as they possibly could by forming rows of 3.
While the game is said to be closely related to chess, it can also be related to GO, in which players must utilize their logic skills in order to capture opponents and thus “gain more territory.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pEY9MUYibU&feature=youtu.be
Cost: $10 or less
# of Players: 2
App: No
Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride is a popular strategy game created by Days of Wonder to helps students build multi-step problem solving and resource management skills.
Loosely based on a true historical event, the object of the game is for players to build as many train tracks “across the United States” as they possibly could while completing tasks according to what their cards state.
Since the time of its release, this game has generated multiple spin-offs.
Cost: $30 to $50
# of Players: 2 – 5
App: Yes
Ages 10+
Prime Climb
Prime Club is an award-winning game created by a ragtag team of mathematicians in order to teach kids how to use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in order to win the game. It also teaches students what prime numbers are so that they have a greater chance of understanding basic math principles.
To win the game, students must use their knowledge of basic arithmetic and logic in order to get to the center of the board and thus win the game.
Cost: $30 plus tax
# of Players: 2 -4
App: No
Five Tribes
Five Tribes is a mancala meets Monopoly-style board game in which players use spatial reasoning, resource management, and multi-step problem-solving skills in order to win the game.
Made by the creators of Ticket to Ride, the object of Five Tribes is to gain as many points as they could while moving meeples around. If players want, they also have the option to bid to go first.
Cost: $40 plus tax
# of Players: 3 – 4
App: No
Startups
Startups is a Japanese card game designed by Oink Game in order to teach students how to invest in businesses and make good, logical decisions.
Similar to Monopoly, the object of the game is to gain the most cards from one particular company in order to win.
Cost: $30 to $40
# of Players : 3 – 7
App: No
Math Video Games
Ages 5+
Dragon Box Math Apps
Dragon Box Math apps are a fun, award-winning tool designed by high school math teacher Jean-Baptiste Huynh and game developer Patrick Marchal to make learning algebra and other math subjects more fun for kids to learn by creating an open-game learning platform similar to popular video games such as Nintendo’s Animal Crossing.
Cost: $5 to $8 for individual apps, $10 to $25 for app bundles
# of Players: 1
System(s): iPhone, iPad, Android, Amazon, Mac, Windows 8
Prodigy
Prodigy is an open-world math platform designed for grades 1 -8 to help them stay up-to-date on today’s mathematical standardized testing and diagnosis them on whatever problems they have trouble solving.
In this game, students interact in a fantasy virtual environment while solving math problems along the way.
While the educational content itself is free, instructors have the option to purchase memberships for their students.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oeHs7Wyyw4
Cost: Free for educational content itself, a yearly plan is $5 a month
# of Players: 1 to Infinity
System(s): Mac and PC
Math Blaster!
Math Blaster is a popular 1983 educational game developed by former educator Jan Davidson to help students grades 1 through 6 build skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percentages, and decimals.
To win the game, children must use a digital cannon to “fire” at the correct answer.
Since the time of its release, this game has gone through multiple spinoffs and continues to be loved by children, families, and educators alike as one of the first “drill-and-practice edutainment video games” created.
Cost: $5 to Free
# of Players: 1
System(s): Apple II, Atari 8-bit, C64, IBM PC, Apple II, MS-DOS, Apple IIGS, Amiga, DOS, Windows, iPhone, Android, Amazon, Facebook
Wuzzit Trouble
Wuzzit Trouble is an app developed by Brain Quake to help children build number sense, problem-solving, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills related to math and computer science.
To do so, children play various math games and activities in an open-ended, fantastical platform environment.
At this time, the creators have created four different versions of this game:
- Wuzzit Trouble Math Patterns – A dominant “math-based” game for children ages 8 and up
- Wuzzit Trouble Extreme – The “brain-fitness” version
- Wuzzit Trouble Math Jr – For children 5 – 8 years old
- Wuzzit Trouble – Regular version
Cost: Free
# of Players: 1
System(s): iPhone, iPad, Android, Amazon
Ages 7+
Fun Math – Mental Challenge
Fun Math – Mental Challenge is an arcade-style app developed by Revosoft Technologies PTY LTD to help students improve their math skills by solving various math problems in as little time as possible.
Players have the option to play against their friends in real time and adjust the levels of the game however they need to.
Cost: Free
# of Players: 1 to Infinity
System(s): iPhone, iPod, iPad
Number Munchers
Number Munchers is a popular, educational, Pac-man style game developed by MECC in the 1990s to teach kids how to recognize multiples, factors, prime numbers, equalities, and inequalities.
In this game, children move their green monsters across the board to “eat” the correct numbers while avoiding purple monsters called Troggles.
Cost: $2 to none, depending on where you buy it from
# of Players: 1
System(s): Apple II, Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad
Lumosity
Lumosity is a “yoga brain-training app” designed by a group of Lumos Labs Inc. scientists and designers to help students practice mindfulness by solving various puzzles related to…
- Planning
- Logical Reasoning
- Probabilistic Reasoning
- Proportional Reasoning
- Numerical Calculation
- Numerical Estimation
And many MORE!
As players play through each of the games, the app tailors itself to the needs of each player.
Cost: Free
# of Players: 1
System(s): iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, PC
Ages 10+
Elevate – Brain Training
Elevate – Brain Training is an award-winning “brain training” app developed by experts in neuroscience and cognitive learning at Elevate Inc. to help students improve their math skills by playing games.
The app comes with a workout calendar to help students keep track of their math skills and assesses students on which areas they need to improve on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQBTKgyOqi4
Cost: Free for basic version, but after 14 days, players can choose whether or not to pay a subscription fee in order to access the entire app
# of Players: 1
System(s): iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
Variant: Limits
Variant: Limits is an award-winning game designed by a talented group of designers, educators, artists, and storytellers at Triseum to help students understand precalculus and calculus by playing in a 3D immersive adventure environment.
In this game, players help out a character named Equa solve various puzzles in order to win the game and eventually, master the subject itself.
As players play through the game, they are given feedback on which areas of calculus limits they are having trouble learning.
Cost: $30 for Game 1
# of Players: 1
System(s): Windows 7 PC or Mac OS 10 Sierra
The Butterfly’s Dream
The Butterfly’s Dream is a relaxing, adventure game in which students solve various math puzzles based on ancient Chinese games such as GO and calculating tools such as an abacus.
Developed by Yang Liu from Plump Bun Studio, the game teaches students how to think logically and creativity while learning more about traditional Chinese culture.
While the game is for players 4+, we at CodaKid feel that older students might appreciate this game more.
Cost: Free
# of Players: 1
System(s): iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
ALL AGES AND LEVELS BONUS GAME!
GO
Otherwise referred to as wéiqí in Mandarin Chinese or baduk in Korean, GO is an ancient Chinese strategy game that has become popular in both Eastern and Western countries thanks to mangas such as Yumi Hotta’s Hikaru no GO and movies such as Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind.
In this game, two players compete to see who gains the most territory on the board by placing stones on diagonal points and “building their territories” as they go(no pun intended…).
In order to win, players must not only memorize certain moves and rules, but also utilize logic, geometry, and (to an extent), ancient Chinese philosophy.
For those who are not yet ready to play a traditional one-hour long game, families and instructors can instead either purchase smaller boards and/or play a nice game of pente using their regular 16 X 16 GO board.
Cost: Anywhere between $10 and $1,000 if you want to purchase the physical set. However, if you want to play it online, you can do so for free
App: Yes, many actually…
In Conclusion…
Hopefully, by checking out these top 20 math games:
Math Board Games:
Ages 5+:
- Ice Cool – Great for students who love playing with penguins while (indirectly) learning about the wonderful world of angles
- Achi – Great for students looking to take their tic-tac-toe skills to the next level
- Robot Turtles – Great for students looking for a hands-on, offline coding experience to “boss” their parents around with
Ages 7+:
- Mobi-Math Game – Great for scrabble lovers looking to transfer their problem-solving skills to the wonderful world of mathematical equations
- Dara – Great for students looking for another way to play chess
- Ticket to Ride – Great for history and engineering lovers looking for an oldie, but goodie to help them sharpen their problem-solving skills
Ages 10+:
- Prime Club – Great for students looking for a fun and beautiful way to utilize their basic and intermediate level arithmetic skills
- Five Tribes – Great for students looking for a mancala meets Monopoly and the fantastical Middle East style board game
- Startups – Great for students looking for a logic-based Japanese card game that teaches them how to become the next wolves on Wall Streets
Math Video Games
Ages 5+:
- Dragon Box Math apps – Great for students looking to improve their algebra skills in a fun, fantastical environment
- Prodigy – Great for students looking for a fun, self-paced math learning gaming platform
- Math Blaster – Great for students looking for an oldie, but goodie educational game to help them practice understanding addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percentages, and decimals
- Wuzzit Trouble – Great for students looking to practice their math skills in an open-ended, fantastical virtual environment
Ages 7+:
- Fun Math – Mental Challenges – Great for students looking to practice their math skills while competing with friends
- Number Munchers – Great for students looking for an oldie, but goodie, Pac-man style game to help them improve their understanding in recognizing multiples, factors, prime numbers, equalities, and inequalities.
- Luminosity – Great for students looking for a “yoga-brain training” game to help them practice mindfulness and math skills
Ages 10+:
- Elevate- Brain Training – Great for students looking for a self-paced “brain training” app to help them improve their math skills
- Variant: Limits – Great for students looking to improve their calculus skills in a 3D adventure environment
- The Butterfly Dream – Great for students who want to practice their math skills while learning more about Chinese culture
Bonus Game!
- GO – Great for students looking to put their liberal arts skills to the test using one of the world’s oldest, popular board games
You’ll have a better idea as to which games are suitable for your child to learn and love math.
In the meantime, tell us, which of these games are you thinking about trying out for you and your child? Please let us know your comments and suggestions down below!
