I’m always on the lookout for games I can play wth my middle-school students during our lunchtime Math Games club.

The best are games that can be explained in 30 seconds, can be played in about 15 minutes and involve logic, strategy and a good mind.

I just found another game that fits the bill — Pyros. It’s lots of fun. Look for it. It joins my other favorites: Coda, Blokus and Quarto. Google them.

Jack adds all the odd numbers from 1 to 1999.

Jill adds all the even numbers from 2 to 2000.

Jill’s sum is how many more than Jack’s?

a) 999

b) 1000

c) 1999

d) 2000

This is a classic:

In Konigsberg, Germany, a river ran through the city such that in its center was an island, and after passing the island, the river broke into two parts.  Seven bridges

were built so that the people of the city could get from one part to another.  A crude map of the center of Konigsberg might look like this:

The people wondered whether or not one could walk around the city in a way that would involve crossing each bridge exactly once.

Try to ‘plan your journey’ with a pencil in such a way that you trace over each bridge once and only once and you complete the ‘plan’ with one continuous pencil stroke.

Harry, a teacher of classics, was meeting his new class for their first Latin lesson. After they had all introduced themselves, Harry said that James was the odd one out. Why?

Their names were: Isabelle, Vanessa, Lyndsay, Xavier, James, Colin, David and Melissa.