Math Games
Many resources (such as Teachers Pay Teachers or Kahoot) are replete with "games" that are really just poorly veiled excuses to get kids to do worksheets and practice arithmetic/computation. The resources below attempt to avoid that kind of "chocolate-covered broccoli," and steer toward more authentically engaging games that develop both content AND practice standards.
These resources also avoid online games, which tend to be focused on individual students, in favor of printable or physical games focused on group play. See mathforlove creator Dan Finkel's "Three Aspects of Successful Games" with Christina Tondevold for guidelines for implementing games in math classrooms.
Math Game Collections
Math for Love Games |K-8th| - A collection of games with mostly free resources as well as some games using their paid "multiplication by heart" cards, sorted by grade level. "Prime Climb" (detailed below) is a fun way to build multiplication fluency, but can also be used to spur discussions and problems in class.
Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks Games |K-6th| - An archive of an email series that went out during Covid-19 closures. Includes some fun and simple games like tic-tac-ten, domino games, dice games, card games, and more. Focused on K-6 content, but some games might also be enjoyed by older students, especially with some small modifications.
North Carolina's Building Conceptual Understanding and Fluency Through Games Series |K-5th| - Free, individual pdf books per grade level K-5 with games that can be played in an average classroom with materials on hand. I can't find these officially published anymore, so this is my archived backup.
LoveMaths.me/games |K-5th| - Free. This site organizes Michael Minas's youtube walkthroughs of over 80 math games organized by K-2 and 3-6 "operations", "number", and "other." All of the games have been selected because they are fun, filled with rich learning opportunities, do not require very much in terms of resources and are easy to play. Many of the games are easy to facilitate in a classroom or small-group setting.
CFLM Games |K-5th| - Games from the excellent Contexts for Learning Mathematics curriculum can be made by teachers or purchased at this link in a durable and easy-to-clean format. Region 2 Math Center has most of these materials available for checkout.
Box It and Bag It |K-2nd| - An evolution by Bridges of Math Their Way, includes teacher materials and many games that can be created in your classroom without purchasing anything.
Paper Games Index |K-5th| - 27 games with instructional resources by Daniel Kaufman @ scmath.org. No purchases are needed.
Figuring Fluency Series & Instruction Supports (paid books) |K-8th| - Six books on subjects including addition & subtraction or multiplication & division with whole numbers or with fractions and decimals. The books outline games and include teacher instructional support, and are often practice changing for teachers who read them. The website has some free games and webinars linked. Coauthored by John SanGiovanni.
Algebra Games for younger students |2nd-6th| - Includes "Guess My Rule" and a great algebra intro game called "Magic Pot" which goes along with a story book "Two of Everything".
Math Fact Fluency: 60+ Games and Assessment Tools to Support Learning and Retention (paid book) |K-5th| - A great list of easy-prep games for K-5 teachers in a book published through NCTM.
NRICH Games |K-6th| - Lower and Upper Primary Games and Interactives. Online interactives and printouts are available.
Math Fluency Games From The Recovering Traditionalist |K-6th| - A great set of free games that can be downloaded -- also includes some commentary on building fluency through various paid math-game products.
Well-Played K-2, 3-5, 6-8 (paid books) |K-8th| - Collection of fun math games and supporting instructional resources for K-2, 3-5, and 6-8.
Richardson Puzzles and Games (paid books) |K-8th| - Collection of fun math games and supporting instructional resources, including games that can be played at home with families.
Family Math (paid book) |K-9th| - A classic book published in the 70s that has some great math games that can be played at home with mundane objects. Sorted into K-3, 4-6, and 6-9 levels.
Multiplication Fluency Card Games |3rd-8th| - Cards include symbolic, domino (subitizing), grid array, and pictorial array representations. Print the cards and then click the Games to Play with Fluency Cards link to view the games.
The original Area Mazes (paid book) |4th-12th| - Lovely logic puzzles requiring only two-digit arithmetic skills with whole numbers. Puzzles have five increasingly complex levels. See also: The Original Area Mazes Volume 2, Amazing Area Mazes
The Teacher As Math Games Collection and accompanying Podcast with Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Records.
MathWire Games (click to expand)
Addition and Subtraction Games |K-3rd| - Includes classic games like War/Top-it and variations like MORE. Also see their counting games,
Coordinate Geometry Games |2nd-7th| - Coordinate geometry games like High Five (FUN!), and an interesting polygon quilt game for two players for recognizing basic geometric shapes (with some nice strategy to it!).
Probability/Data Analysis Games |2nd-7th| - Includes classic games like "Pig" and some variations like "free the prisoners" are a fun way to practice math facts while gaining intuition about probability.
Logic Games |2nd-12th| - Includes a printout for "Mastermind," a variation of "Nim" and a cartography coloring game.
Overtly Mathematical Card & Board Games
Prime Climb |4th-12th| - Explore mathematical structure in multiplication, division, factoring, and prime numbers in a fast-paced, dynamic game of strategy and luck. See more games by Math For Love on their website. Region 2 Library has a few copies of this one to check out.
Number Knockout N²K |4th-12th| - 🆓(printable) Students playing Number Knockout practice creating, speaking, and listening to arithmetic equations in sequence. Variations for the classroom include setting a timer and playing bingo style, blackout style, or in a group as teams. Rounds last 60 seconds each. A competition is held yearly with a $10,000 prize! Link to guide.
Oh No 99! |2nd-6th| - 🆓♠️♣️♥️♦️ A pair of students play a face card game centered on addition and subtraction numeracy. The link gives thoughts about extra support for 2nd graders, how to lead into number talks, and general observations and tips. Can be played in teams. A typical game takes 10-20 minutes.
Primepak |4th-12th| - (paid) Master multiplication, division and factoring skills while having fun playing card games with this unique deck of 171 cards. In all four games, players form factor sets. Because 80 = 8 x 10, the numbers 80, 8 and 10 form a factor set. Adapts to 6 increasingly difficult levels with multiple variations.
Take 5 |2nd-12th| - A (paid) card game with addition and subtraction to 100 and complex possible strategies but also an easy entry point. Known in Germany as 6 nimmt! Can be played with up to 10 players. A typical game is 45 minutes.
Skyjo |2nd-6th| - A fun (paid) strategy card game that happens to include addition and subtraction to 100 for 2-8 players. Two-player games might last 15 minutes, while 8 player games might last 45 minutes.
The Multiplication Game |3rd-8th| - 🆓 A multiplication fluency strategy game. Take a look at this video outlining how to play. I love the modified x0, x1, x2, x10, x5, or the x2, x4, x8 versions! Ann Elise would appreciate it if you access the materials through her site, or you can join the Facebook group I linked to get access.
Equate |3rd-12th| - A (paid) board game that is essentially "Scrabble with equations." You can add operations or revise rules to change the audience. Can be used with addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, and fractions. Intended for 2 players, but can be four. Typical games last two hours.
Integer Chess |3rd-7th| - (paid) Locations & Moves familiarizes students with graphing points and making vector-like-moves. Integer Addends & Sums challenges students to find strategic locations using vector-like sums. Integer Products & Factors challenges students to find strategic locations using vector-like products. A typical game might last 30-60 minutes.
Math Games With a Pair of Dice |K-6th| - 🆓 Fabulous fun games to play with younger kids to build number sense and arithmetic fluency. I especially like PIG (adding small numbers to get to 100), Trash Can Game (place value in the hundreds), and Block Out (area geometry).
Fraction Tracks (printable) |3rd-7th| - 🆓A game you can print out yourself (alternate link) and play single or two players, focused on part-whole fraction relationships. See this youtube video explanation on how to play the game.
SET |1st-12th| - A game focused on creating sets from cards with four different attribute categories. Builds logical reasoning skills. You can play comfortably with a first-grader, or explore high-level set-theory and graph-theory mathematics (as this article outlines). The official SET website has a daily SET puzzle.
Blokus |2nd-12th| - A geometric reasoning and problem-solving game with origins rooted in the four-color theorem for cartography. See this journal article (download it to read it) on the positive impacts of the game on students.
Zendo |4th-12th| - Zendo is a game of inductive logic in which one player, the Master, creates a rule (arithmetic function) that the rest of the players, as Students, try to figure out by building and studying configurations of the game pieces. The first student to correctly guess the rule wins.
24 Game |3rd-8th| - You can print some of the single-digit versions of these yourself, and here is a link to the rules. Players win points by being the first to correctly identify how the four numbers on the card can be manipulated using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and/or division to arrive at the number 24. There are three different decks, single-digit, double-digit, and variables. Comes with "puzzle sleeves" that introduce the idea of variables (basic algebra) by covering up one of the numbers and making it "wild".
Ben Vincent's List of Secondary Board Games - Some of the games in the section above came from this website, so I've included the list here. I didn't include games that are difficult to obtain or not overtly related to content and practice standards.
**The tasks on the "tasks and practice" page can be really fun for students too! For example, 3-act tasks often include some kind of real-world video or prompt that makes students go crazy to find the answer. Watch Dan Myer explain the fun and power of 3-act tasks