Pharaoh's Pyramid Mathematical Board Game

For a long time I have been tampering with the thought of making a mathematical board game for kids. Finally came up with something which I can say that I am proud of.

Here is a "Pharaoh's Pyramid" mathematical board game that can be used to train the young minds of kids to do summation in the mind.

I have played it for quite a long time to remove any errors that can occur.

So here are the steps to making one and also how to play the game.

If interested, keep reading.

We will require (this is just to make a basic one. You can make one with more complex parts such as acrylic or plywood etc.

Hard paper

Paint + brush or pen

Cutter/scissor

Ruler

that's all.

So lets make it.

Cut the hard paper to make an equilateral triangle. Make sure it is just big enough to draw digits but not too big to make it cumbersome to play. Please see the board to get an idea of the size.

Cut another hard paper to make another shape exactly double the size of the triangle. just that this shape will be a rhombus.

We will require 10 pieces of the triangle and 45 pieces of rhombus.

Now as per the images mark the digits onto the board.

Make 10 triangles

2 triangles of digit 1

2 triangles of digit 2

2 triangles of digit 3

2 triangles of digit 4

2 triangles of digit 5

Mark the rhombus

1 rhombus with 0 and 0

1 rhombus with 0 and 1

2 rhombus with 0 and 2

2 rhombus with 0 and 3

2 rhombus with 0 and 4

2 rhombus with 0 and 5

1 rhombus with 0 and 6

1 rhombus with 0 and 7

1 rhombus with 0 and 8

1 rhombus with 0 and 9

1 rhombus with 0 and 10

1 rhombus with 1 and 1

1 rhombus with 1 and 6

1 rhombus with 1 and 7

1 rhombus with 1 and 8

1 rhombus with 1 and 9

1 rhombus with 1 and 10

1 rhombus with 2 and 2

1 rhombus with 2 and 6

1 rhombus with 2 and 7

1 rhombus with 2 and 8

1 rhombus with 2 and 9

1 rhombus with 2 and 10

1 rhombus with 3 and 3

1 rhombus with 3 and 6

1 rhombus with 3 and 7

1 rhombus with 3 and 8

1 rhombus with 3 and 9

1 rhombus with 3 and 10

1 rhombus with 4 and 4

1 rhombus with 4 and 6

1 rhombus with 4 and 7

1 rhombus with 4 and 8

1 rhombus with 4 and 9

1 rhombus with 4 and 10

1 rhombus with 5 and 5

1 rhombus with 5 and 6

1 rhombus with 5 and 7

1 rhombus with 5 and 8

1 rhombus with 5 and 9

1 rhombus with 5 and 10

These are the exact number of pieces I came up with. The counts may require change.

Make sure both the numbers are flipped so for the game to work. You can also make some indents (such as underline) for 6 and 9 to remove any confusion.

Draw the board with 9 triangles in the bottom and placing the rhombuses to create a triangle.

We will call the triangle pieces as foundation bricks and the rhombuses as upper bricks.

Now you are all set to play.

What are the rules?

1. This is a 2 player game

2. All bricks are places face down besides the board. This is called the quarry.

3. Each player takes up 5 foundation bricks from the quarry.

4. Each player takes 7 upper bricks to start with.

5. Player can see their own bricks.

6. Each player plays as to put one brick (foundation/upper) on the board.

7. Foundation bricks are played first till any 2 are adjacent.

8. Any upper brick that is played should have adjacent 2 bricks (foundation/upper) filled on the below row.

9. If any user do not have any matching brick to play then he/she draws one brick from the quarry and misses that chance.

In the images you can see that as soon as 2 foundation bricks are adjacent the next player plays his upper brick.

2+1=3 can be played

1+5=6 can be played

10+4=14 1+4=5 can be played

How to win:

Rare win: If the pyramid is formed perfectly the last brick on the top will be 0 0. This rarely happens. The player who places the 0 0 brick wins. (happened to me twice)

Regular win: If no brick can be placed as per the summation and the quarry is also empty. Then the bricks are flipped over and counted. The digits are summed. The player who has the lowest sum wins.

Here are 2 formats of boards that I designed. You can print the monochrome one and paint as you like.

So! Try it and let me know how you like it. Feel free to criticize in the comment section below. Of course there is room for improvement as this is my first board game.

Here is the board and pieces that I made from scratch.