Monday, December 8, 2008

Game: Ingenious

Game Summary by BoardGameGeek.com
Anyone who knows a little about Reiner Knizia’s games will know that the good Doctor loves games that deal with trying to get points in various different categories and then only score that category in which the player has the fewest. In the past, Knizia has used this mechanic to develop highly complicated games, but with Einfach Genial, he has distilled the mechanic down to its purest form.
The game is played on a hex board. 120 equally sized pieces, each consisting of two joined hexes, come with the game. There are symbols on each hex that make up the piece – some pieces have two identical symbols, some have two different symbols (not unlike dominoes). The goal of the game is, through clever placement, to obtain points in the different symbol colors. Points are claimed by placing a piece such that the symbols on it lie next to already-placed pieces with the same symbol.
The game ends when no more tiles can be placed onto the board or when a player reaches the maximum number in every color. Now each player looks to see how many points they scored in the colour they 'scored the least'. Whoever has the most points in their least-scored colour is the winner. Simple.
The author of the game has also come up with solitaire and team play, in which two teams of two play with each player not being able to see his partner’s tiles.



Teacher Tips

For younger students the game can be slightly simplified. Students who are older can be prompted to assess the geometric characteristics of the shapes. Extra points can be given or taken away based on geometric issues. Pieces can also be altered using stickers and sets of matching shapes can be changed to sets of cities, parts of grammar, similar life forms, or any other larger collection of related terms.

Standards and References linked to this game:

NJ Core Curr
{MA.5.4.5 A.1} Learn mathematics through problem solving, inquiry, and discovery. (NJ Core Curr )

{MA.5.4.2.5 A.2.b} Identify, describe, compare, and classify polygons.
Quadrilaterals, including squares, rectangles, parallelograms, trapezoids, rhombi(NJ Core Curr )

{MA.5.4.2.5 A.2.c} Identify, describe, compare, and classify polygons.
Polygons by number of sides.(NJ Core Curr )

{MA.5.4.2.5 A.3} Identify similar figures. (NJ Core Curr )

{MA.5.4.2.5 A.4} Understand and apply the concepts of congruence and symmetry (line and rotational). (NJ Core Curr )

{MA.5.4.2.5 B.1} Use a translation, a reflection, or a rotation to map one figure onto another congruent figure. (NJ Core Curr )

{MA.5.4.2.5 B.2} Recognize, identify, and describe geometric relationships and properties as they exist in nature, art, and other real-world settings. (NJ Core Curr )

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