Cram — the last domino wins
Players take turns shading a domino, two squares side by side, on a small grid. If you cannot place a domino on your turn, you lose.
From Cram, a pencil-and-paper game.
What it shows a designer
On boards with even sides the second player always wins by copying. It shows how symmetry can break a game, and how changing the board fixes it.
Credits
- Made by
- Traditional; popularised by Martin Gardner in Scientific American
- This version
- A 4 by 4 grid
- Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cram_(game)
www.byrdseed.com/math-game-cram/
What you need
- paper
- a pen each, in two colours if you have them
How to play
- Grid. Draw a grid of 4 by 4 squares. The usual size is 4 by 6; 4 by 4 makes a quicker game.
- Place a domino. Toss a coin to see who starts. On your turn, shade two empty squares next to each other, across or down.
- No overlaps. A domino may not cover a square already shaded or go off the grid.
- Last move. If you cannot place a domino on your turn, you lose.
- Again. Play a few times and notice when the grid splits into separate parts.
After playing, talk about
- When could you count the moves left?
- Did a move in the middle split the grid?
- Did going second help?
Its blocks
Download it as a design (.md)In boardgameBuilder, Open game puts its blocks on the canvas. Changed, the same file can come back here from Propose a game.