We played the game with gifted kids and adults age 9-40-plus and were surprised to find the kids were able to hold their own. But, like scrabble, the turns take forever! And, the scrabble concept doesn't really work well with the operators (=.+,-); too soon you run out of space on the sides as equations are much longer than words. You can't put two equations as close as two words and so there is much less opportunity for creativity in placing your pieces (e.g. you cannot make two equations in two directions; sometimes there are only one or two locations where it is possible to add an equation). We were getting scores of 10-30 points per turn, then one person added the following to an existing equation "0 X 34567 5/6 +." By hitting a triple equation score and got more than 270 points on one hand thereby effectively ending the game that had been relatively even. It seemed unfair even to him! Great idea flawed by long waits and poor design; unlikely to play it twice. C Equate: The Equation Thinking Game
My sister actually found this game and my daughter played it at her house with my sister's husband. She liked it so much that we decided to buy it. As most parents, I'm always looking for ways to supplement my daughter's education. This turned out to be a fun way to get my daughter to think about math differently. Because she liked scrabble, she already knew the basic ideas about tile placement. We made it a little easier by allowing her to ask for help but she had to check our equations or finish them. The game is long but could be stopped at any time and I do agree that the plastic is not as nice as wood. However, in general, she asks to play this board game (which allows for more math practice) and it's definitely fun for the whole family.
I hate math, but this game is fun.
I remember improving my spelling and vocabulary with Scrabble. I was hoping this would do the same with math for my daughter. So far, so good. It's given my daughter great self-confidence in Math. She was doing division with fractions in the game, which she hasn't learned yet in school.
Only complaint:The tiles are cardboard and thin. Easy to lose, but they come in a ziploc type bag.
For those who like Scrabble and like math, this is the game. My son wants to play it all the time. The biggest set back is, as the directions state, it is a very long game. We haven't actually finished one yet. The directions mention that a game played by inexperienced Equate players can easily take 2-4 hours. Those players with experience actually take long as they make the equations much more complicated. I think I would have started off with the junior tiles even though my 4th grader is classified as a 6th+ in math and my spouse and I have very strong math backgrounds.
I read all the reviews and thought this would be a great game for my daughters and me. We all like Scrabble and have a strong math aptitude. Well, this game disappointed us in several ways: the instruction book is way too long and complicated to follow, the tiles are not nice wood tiles like Scrabble, and most important, we abandoned the game after 15 minutes because it wasn't very fun. On a friend's recommendation, I purchased Krypto, which is similar in concept but it is a card game. It has a short 1 page instruction sheet and it was fun off the bat while still being challenging and educational, and significantly cheaper.Original Krypto: Family Arithmetic Game
We've played this with our 8-yr-old (second grade) son and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Without a doubt, the game offers plenty of opportunities for critical thinking, planning, review of basic math (addition, subtraction), practice in grade-level or difficult math (multiplication, division, strings of operations), and introduction of challenging concepts like equivalent fractions, multiplying/dividing fractions, etc. We do a lot of interacting with each other's tiles to come up with multiple scenarios in order to use those as teaching moments.
Gameplay and setup is very easy (and one can also easily modify rules for simpler play) and while one wishes for wooden and hard plastic trays rather than thin plastic, or tiles rather than cardboard numbers/symbols, well, those days seem to be a bit behind us and the tradeoff in cost may not be worth it for some. Turns can last a while, especially as the board begins to fill up and it gets more difficult to fit equations in; this is not an in-and-out-in 20-minutes family game. But we just leave it out and finish at a more convenient time if we go long. Earlier comments mention the problem with getting a zero and a multiplier and then being able to "run the table" so to speak, but that's a rare occurrence and one could always just make a rule where zeroes can't be used with the times symbol--problem solved.
All in all, we're very pleased with both the family fun and the educational aspects of the game--highly recommended.
About as educational as you can get for 2nd-4th grade. One of the few ways to brush up on math skills with my 7 yrs old outside the evening homework. Once scoring is done, will work together trying to use up all of the tiles filling the board out. With the expansion packs you increase the challenges as skills develop.
Having purchased many boardgames I would say quality is above average and exceeded my expectations.
We bought this game as an educational tool for our home school. It is very versatile in that you can choose to do easy (just addition and/or subtraction) or more difficult (adding in multiplication, division, and fractions). Thus, it is adaptable for any age group (above 6yrs old). It is great for 1st grade through adults. It is exactly like Scrabble. My husband and I even have fun playing it, even though we bought it for the kids' use. I highly recommend it for any home! - Educational Games - 3rd Grade Math - Childrens Illustration - Family Game'
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