Numenko-in-a-bag Review and Giveaway

Neighbors!

I love to visit out here At the Fence with you! I hope your day is going as well as mine. I just have to tell you about this new game. It is called Numenko! We love it! This is such a fun game, and it helps you and your children improve math skills. Before I describe this game, let me tell you Math was not my favorite subject. I did well in Math, I just preferred my English classes. I mean I in my senior year I took one quarter of Trig, and decided I had all my Math credits, why bother. Anyway, I say all that to say, my whole family enjoys Numenko.



This is the Numenko-in-a-bag. I will only be calling it Numenko throughout this post, but know that this is the one that comes in the bag. There is also a board game. (Maybe you will be seeing that one later!) I really like the way you play this version because you are working on your own personal math crossword, you are not playing off each other. I think that helps remove some of the competition and stress off the younger children.


Basically you lay all the number tiles and multicoated tiles face down in the center of the table. (Do not place the free choice tiles in yet. (They are the ones with the smiley faces!) The multicoated tiles have the symbols for addition, subtraction, multiplication , division, and the equals sign all on one tile. (They look a little unique.) If there are 2-4 players, each player picks 20 tiles from the center. If 5-6 are playing each one takes 15 tiles. Everyone receives 1 free choice and then all the rest of the free choice are turned upside down and placed in the center with the other tiles. (Be sure to mix them in!) Now, let me explain the tiles a little bit. Obviously the number tiles are exactly that, they are the numbers 0-9 and you use them as such. The multicoated tiles may be used as an addition, subtraction, multiplication, division or equals sign. The free choice may be used as any one of these, a number or a math symbol.



Once everyone has their tiles chosen play begins. Each player plays right in front of themselves building math equations, but they must be played off each other. You do not just lay them out separately. Basically like a Scrabble game, but remember you are building your own in front of you, you are not working off each other. You may recalculate or rearrange your tiles as many times as you like to complete the game. If you get stuck, you may exchange a tile by saying “swap” and placing one tile in the center and choosing two more. You may do this as often as you need to. If a player has used all their tiles, they say “done” and then grab four more tiles from the center. The game is over when there are not enough tiles in the center for someone to do a swap (2 tiles) or a player says “done” but there are not four tiles left in the center for them to use. At this point if a player has no tiles left unused he/she can declare “game over”. The winning hand is then checked by the other players, and if all equations are correct they are the winner. If any sum is not correct the other players may choose to end the game, or they can eject that player from the game, take the players tiles and place them in the center and continue playing.



Should the game end and everyone still has unused tiles with no outright winner then each player adds up the unused tiles and the person with the lowest score wins. The numbers count as face value, Multichoice count as one, and the Freechoice count as 10. (So make sure you use your Freechoices!) Remember that the Multichoice tiles can be changed throughout the game. Reading across it may be addition, but the very same tile going down may be division. Or if you make your math equation longer it may become another symbol. For example:You may originally put down-3+4=7, and then decide to change it to-3+4x7=49. And if you build down it changes for the equation you are working on. Such as:

4*3*2*9
*
7
3 *3 *6
1
1

For my illustration the * stands for a Multichoice tile. (I just can not get my computer to make the same symbol they use!) You can see in the example that 4 plus 7 equals 11, but going across the equals symbol in that equation becomes an addition symbol for the 3 plus 3 equals 6. It might sound a little confusing the way I have described it, but it is really quite easy to play. I am really impressed by the quality of this game and I will be using both for family fun and for homeschool to improve math skills. This is a must game for homeschoolers. You may visit the Numenko site here. The game can be bought in the USA through www.chinaberry...com or www.dailygrommet.com, or through Numenko in the UK.



Numenko is a family business:

"When my daughter Stephanie was at school she had problems with maths. I tried to buy a game that might help her, but there were no games available at that time. I liked maths so I decided to make one myself.

Within a week I had created a board game, unfortunately although it worked,it was slow and laborious and there was no fun in playing it.

I put the game away and on many occasions over the years I got it out and tried to work on ways to improve it. Many years later, after my daughter had left school, got married and had two children of her own, I cracked the problems with the game. I came up with the multichoice.

I sudddenly had a game that worked properly, it allowed maths to be played by all ages, helped children improve their number skills whilst playing a game. It was challenging,educational and most important of all it was FUN to play.

From the board game I called Numenko came the table top game (numenko-in-a-bag) that allowed children to play with adults on an equal footing. It has also been used by schools for Special Educational Needs."

One neighbor will win their own Numenko-in-a-bag. Believe me this is a game you will want. I really recommend this game if your child is having some problems with math, as they will not feel intimidated as they play.

Mandatory Entry: Visit the Numenko site and then leave a comment telling me something you learned on their site. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but you must leave a valid email where you can be reached should you win. This giveaway will end 8/2 at 11:59 pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond.

Extra Entries:

1.Become a neighbor(follower). Leave a comment to let me know you did/do. 1 entry

2.Subscribe to At The Fence. Leave a comment to let me know that you did/do. 2 entries

3.Follow me on Twitter, At The Fence. Leave a comment letting me know that you did/do. 1 entry

4.Tweet about this giveaway. Leave a comment with the link. 3 tweets per day. Up to 3 comments a day for tweeting. (Enter to win math game Numenko At the Fence. bit.ly/q7HMzb @Atthefence)

5.Do a post regarding this giveaway. Leave a comment with a link. 2 entries, so 2 comments.

6.Leave a comment on one of my review posts(not a giveaway) Leave a comment to let me know which one. 1 entry

7. Leave a comment telling me why you would like to win Numenko-in-a-bag. 1 entry

Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this post. I received the Numenko-in-a-bag for this review. All quotes are taken from the Numenko website or email. All thoughts and opinions are mine.