Game: Number Chase

Thread: Number Chase - A Light Review

Neil Thomson — 2007-09-08T00:30:03+00:00

All of my reviews aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them. I feel that other reviews can be sought if detailed game mechanics is what you are after.

Summary

Game Type - Card Game (Children's)
Play Time : 10-15 minutes
Number of Players: 2-5 (Best 3+)
Mechanics - Deduction
Difficulty - Pick-up & Play (Learn in under 10 minutes)
Components - Excellent (Thick card stock to withstand many plays and young children)

Number Chase consists of nothing more than 50 cards of above average thickness, which is great when playing with the little ones. Each card has a number on its back, not surprisingly they are in the range of 1-50 also. The front of each card features a question that is based on a number fact. These questions are what drive the game but more on that later.

The game is set-up by laying the cards out in 5 rows, so each row shows the numbers 1-10, 2-20, 3-30, 4-40 and 5-50. A player is selected to start first (in the interest of following this review lets call that player the active player) and they must choose a number without telling anyone.

The aim of the game is for the other players to be the first to guess what number the active player selected. If a person’s guess is correct, they get to keep that card and each card is worth 1 point. That person then becomes the new active player and the other player’s must try to guess the new number that they select (from those left on the table).

The first player to win 3 cards (points) is the winner.

Of course it is highly unlikely that the initial guesses will be correct and this is where the card questions come in. When a guess is incorrect the player making the guess must flip the card they chose and read the question printed there to the active player. The active player must answer either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in relation to their secret number. In this way the player’s begin to gather information that can help them make more informed guesses and rule out certain cards by a process of elimination!

Once a number is correctly identified and taken, all of the other cards are turned face down again before a new round begins.

Let’s look at the type of card questions on offer -

Is the number in the range of xxx – These questions can help eliminate an entire row of numbers (1-10) or a set of 10 numbers (24-34).

Is there an ‘x’ in the number – These questions focus on a particular numeral and can help eliminate entire columns and also focus the players on other numbers that feature a numeral like the 4 in 40.

Is it a ‘one’ digit number – A useful question and the opposite is also featured in ‘two’ digit number.

Is it an Odd number – Again the opposite question is featured.

Is the number 'greater than xx' is featured. Of course the opposite in 'less than' is also present.

Some of the questions are duplicated but the majority feature unique number values or ranges making them different from each other.

The Final Word

If I am being honest there is really nothing new here in Number Chase. It is essentially the game '20 Questions' with a maths theme and it is presented in card form. Teachers have played variations of this game in class for years, but it is played orally.

But this does not make Number Chase a bad game and I think it is perfect for what it aims to deliver - a game for children. The learning that can be gained here for the development of number facts alone is fantastic. Build onto that the deduction skills required and strategy in how a player should best select their numbers and Number Chase stacks up as a ‘no brainer’ for any family with little children and schools.

I often find that Publisher’s are off the mark when they recommend an age suggestion but Playroom get it right here. 6+ is the perfect age to start playing Number Chase as they have already got a year of school under their belt (in Australia anyway) and are ready to further explore numbers. I taught this game to my 9-10 year old students last week and it was ideal for my lower ability students.

I’d recommend this game for the 6-9 year old age group and lower functioning students.

Educational Benefits

I’m going to start adding this new section to my reviews for games that are obviously meant to be educational in nature. Hopefully they will be of help to parents and fellow educators.

Development of number facts up to 50

Categorising numbers as Odd or Even

Identifying numbers as belonging to a given range

Exploring numbers that are 'greater than' or 'less than' a given value

Recognising that numbers form patterns (1-10, 2-20 etc) (The values in each row end in the same unit)

Seeing numbers presented in the form of Arrays (An array is a pattern made up of rows and columns).

Deduction and Elimination – These skills go beyond mathematics and into many facets of everyday life.

Developing a student's familiarity with the language of maths and maths terms.

Counting - When teaching I will often ask a student how many numbers they were able to eliminate with the last question they asked. They will often start out by counting them individually, but with practice they begin to skip count or use their knowledge of the decimal system to count.

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Von Cougar — 2007-04-04T13:31:06+00:00

Box Back

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Von Cougar — 2007-04-04T13:30:34+00:00

Game Setup

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Von Cougar — 2007-04-04T13:30:10+00:00

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Von Cougar — 2007-04-04T13:28:50+00:00

Box Front

Thread: [Review] Number Chase

TomVasel — 2006-12-23T22:47:08+00:00

When reading feedback from the Dice Tower, one of the hottest topics revolves around games for kids. In fact, about once a week or so I get an email from someone who is looking for good, interesting games to play with their children. Invariably I will point them to the Bright Idea line of games from Playroom Entertainment. Each game in that series is interesting and fun for both adults and children and helps children build basic foundational skills for future game playing. Number Chase (Playroom Entertainment, 2006 - Reinhard Staupe) is yet another example of this educational enjoyment, helping kids work with both numbers and logic.

Now, before you turn away with a repugnant grunt, let me assure you that the game is actually fun and reminds me more than a little of the popular mass market Guess Who. Players are attempting to figure out the number picked by another player, using guessing and clues to narrow down exactly what the number is. The game is certainly challenging for the youngest set and extremely easy for the older set. But played in the confines of a family setting, Number Chase can be an entertaining activity.

Fifty cards are placed face down on the table - their backs showing the numbers from "1" to "50". The oldest player takes the first turn and writes a number down secretly on a piece of paper. The player to his left then points to one of the fifty numbers, guessing if it is the secret number. The writer must tell them "yes" or "no". If "no", the player turns the card over and reads the question on the back. There are several types of questions: (The "X" is replaced by a number).
- "Is the number greater than X?"
- "Is there an X in the number?"
- "Is the number in the range of X and Y?"
- "Is the number less than X?"
- "Is the number even/odd?"
- "Is it a one/two digit number?"
The writer must answer the question honestly, and then the next player takes their turn. Players must use the answers to deduce the number that the player wrote down. As soon as one player gets the writer to answer "yes" when they point to a number, they take the card as a point; and the game continues, with the player to the writer's left becoming the new writer. Everything is the same way, except another number is now missing from the configuration. The game continues until one player has collected three cards, at which point they are declared the winner!

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: The game is basically a deck of cards (paper and writing utensil need be supplied by the players). The cards are very thick, making them durable for hasty little fingers. The backs simply show a large number, and the fronts show a beetle-boy thing-a-ma-bob asking the clue. This creature gives the game a "childish" look and makes it a bit more than simply a math game. The cards are held in a cardboard insert in a small, sturdy box.

2.) Rules: If you noticed, I managed to fit the rules into a very small space above. The rulebook manages to stretch it out to four pages, using full color pictures and game examples. The game is extremely easy - adults will pick it up in twenty seconds; younger kids might take a bit longer.

3.) Guess Who?: A game I enjoyed quite a bit when I was a child was "Guess Who?". Number Chase, to me, is very similar to this game. In Guess Who you asked questions to eliminate suspects; in Number Chase you ask questions to eliminate numbers. Number Chase is a bit more restrictive, in that a player must ask the question on the back of the card, but that doesn't make the game any less fun. Alert players can even pick numbers with the question they want on the back - although that would take a lot of memorizing to remember which one was where.

4.) Deduction: For folks who enjoy deduction, this game will honestly be too simplistic. Most numbers can be figured out after only three or four questions. The game has some merit in becoming an interesting two player duel, but the burden lies on the asker of questions - not the person picking the number; it's like Mastermind in that regard. However, for children, this can be a most illuminating experience; as for the first time, they use the process of elimination to discover the target number. That alone is worth the purchase of the game.

5.) Fun Factor: Most of the fun in the game comes from the satisfaction of picking the right number. Occasionally, a person will even pick the correct number out of the blue, with no questions at all, and everybody laughs at their sheer luck. But as a two to five player game with your kids, this can be quite enjoyable; and you can help increase their number and logic awareness.

Without kids, I wouldn't recommend Number Chase at all; there are far better, more brain burning, and more satisfactory deduction games on the market. But when you toss a child into the mix, this is an excellent introduction to the genre; and it will help them with their numbers too. Looking back over the review, I see that I've talked more about the mathematical and logical benefits than anything else, but it is nice to have a game that teaches these skills that is also fun to play, and good looking. Bright Idea Games has another winner!

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com

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BaSL — 2006-01-13T07:05:23+00:00