Ring Your Neck: A Math Game

Add up your cards in this strategy game. Deal 13 playing cards into a circle, face down. Take turns selecting one or two cards at a time and adding their values to your total. Carefully plan your moves. The player who picks up the last card will add 50 points to his score! Use a calculator for help, if you'd like the game to focus on strategy, or use scratch paper if you'd like some extra practice with addition.

What You Need:

• One deck of cards (ace = 1, jack = 11, queen = 12, king = 13) (Print a deck.)
• One Ring Your Neck record sheet for each player (Print this out.)
• A calculator (optional)

What You Do:

1. Shuffle the deck. Then place 13 cards in the center of the playing area, face down, in a circle.
2. Players take turns picking up 1 or 2 cards at a time (their choice). Players write their score (the sum of their cards) on their record sheet.
3. The player who picks up the last card scores 50 extra points.
4. Deal another 13 cards. Play until ten rounds are over and the score sheets are complete. The player with the highest score wins.

Variations:

• Play multiplication-style. Multiply the card(s) that are drawn to the total. Start with a value of 1.
• Play subtraction-style. Start with an initial score of 1,000.
• Play division-style. Start with an initial score of 1,000,000.
• Change the number of cards in the circle.
• Change the value of all face cards to 10.