In our most recent lecture we looked at how mathematics can be used in various puzzles and games. Most of the time we don’t take into consideration the mathematical logic that can be used to complete puzzles or win games. We started off by looking at one of my favourite puzzle games; Sudoku.
My grandmother taught me how to play Sudoku when I was younger and so I’m very familiar with the rules and concepts. However I had never stopped to think of how basic mathematic principles can be applied to the game. Most people are familiar with the standard Sudoku which consists of 9X9 square and has 81 cells. The 81 cells are filled with in with numbers ranging from 1-9. The goal is to fill in the whole grid using the nine numbers so that each row, column and block contains each number exactly once. The basic principles of mathematics that you need to solve a Sudoku puzzle are number, sequencing and problem solving. After doing research online I found that there are many different mathematical ways that people have created to complete Sudoku puzzles. I also learned that there is 6670903752021072936960 different grids that can be created with Sudoku.
We went on to look at games that we had researched ourselves. I had researched into one of my favourite cards games called Spit. Spit is a 2 player game and requires one pack of cards. The card are split evenly between the two players. Each player creates 5 piles of cards. The first pile has 1 card, the second has 2, the third has 3, the fourth has 4 and the fifth has 5. The top card of each pile is turned around so it is facing upwards. The remaining cards are set above the piles to the left of the player. Both players turn over one card from their remaining pile and the game begins. The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards. The first player to get rid of all of their piles of cards then must say spit on the pile of remaining cards with the smallest amount of cards. They then add these cards to their pile of remaining cards and the game starts again. The game ends once a player has got absolutely no cards left.
There are various basic mathematical principles that can be applied to Spit. For example knowledge of sequencing and order are needed when attempting to get rid of your cards properly. Players must understand that they can work up or down the numbers and understand which numbers come next in the sequence. Problem solving is needed as players have to decide which pile is the smallest one to say Spit on. Players also need to be fast as even if they have not got rid of all their cards if their opponent has they can spit on the smallest pile before their opponent does and get that pile. There is also an element of chance involved as it all depends on which cards you are dealt and when they come up in your piles or when they can be dealt.
Even though arithmetic may not be used in many games and puzzles Knowledge of basic mathematical concepts is needed to successfully understand how games such as Sudoku and card games like Spit work and how you can win them.
