It's officially "Black Friday" in the U.S. This is the traditional day that those who get an extra day off work following Thursday's official Thanksgiving holiday use to start the mad rush of shopping for Christmas presents.
Which brings us to a problem that only a select number of shoppers have. What can you get for those people you know who really like maths?
In previous years, we've recommended maths-inspired objects like Klein bottles and oddly shaped objects that roll smoothly, which certainly make for unique gifts. This year, we're going to suggest something that's both a unique item and highly interactive. A card game based on blackjack, or Twenty-One, that takes the old-fashioned game to a new level.
21X is a new card game developed by Naylor Games that was successfully kickstarted in the U.K. earlier this year. Here's how the creator's described the game:
21X is a light, fast paced card game that fuses Blackjack with algebra.
Like Blackjack, you'll be dealt 2 cards with the objective of getting them to add up to 21. However, the cards you're being dealt, have a twist to them... they're algebraic formulas!
It's a perfect gift for maths loving friends and family members, a fun algebra learning tool for schools and fantastic for avid newspaper puzzlers.
We know the mere mention of the word "algebra" is enough to scare many, but check out the following less-than-three minute long preview from Board Game Happy, which provides a very quick lesson in how to play it:
Here are the written rules from 21X's Kickstarter site:
Most cards feature N, X or both on them. N is equal to the number of cards you have, while X can be any integer of your choice (except 0). X must be the same across all your cards and you can change it at any time.
Everyone plays simultaneously to try to get 21 first. At any time a player can "twist" and draw another card from the deck. This could help them, but will make N bigger in the process.
If a player makes 21, they announce it, state their X value and show their working. If they're correct, they win!
Alternatively, if a player can't make 21 but is close, they can call "stick" and state their X value (you may not stick or win with exactly 20). This gives all other players just 1 minute to beat that score. Whoever is closest to 21 at the end of the timer, wins!
Unfortunately, since 21X was only just successfully kickstarted as of 19 October 2022, it won't be available until June or July 2024, which takes it off 2023's shopping list for gift-giving. For now, you can subscribe for pre-order notification at Naylor Games' site to get well ahead of the game when Black Friday 2024 rolls around.
But that still leaves the question of what gift might work for that maths-oriented person you know in 2023, and that's where the Kickstarter site offers useful inspiration. For those pledging support for the project, Naylor Games offered a discounted copy of Marcus du Sautoy's new book, Around the World in Eighty Games: From Tarot to Tic-Tac-Toe, Catan to Chutes and Ladders, a Mathematician Unlocks the Secrets of the World's Greatest Games.
If you're not familiar with du Sautoy, he presented the series A Brief History of Mathematics on the BBC in 2010. The 10 episodes of that series are freely available for download and provides a fantastic overview of who did what and when in maths.
His new book explores the centuries-long connections between maths and games, which makes it almost self-recommending for anyone who enjoys both. We're looking forward to it and also to playing 21X sometime in 2024!
Welcome to the blogosphere's toolchest! Here, unlike other blogs dedicated to analyzing current events, we create easy-to-use, simple tools to do the math related to them so you can get in on the action too! If you would like to learn more about these tools, or if you would like to contribute ideas to develop for this blog, please e-mail us at:
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Thanks in advance!
Closing values for previous trading day.
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