The game

The Mask of Amon Ra encourages children to look for the best sum in a playful way. In this game, the board is a map of a museum featuring The Mask of Amon Ra as its centerpiece. In the evening, four players break into the museum and sneak over the laser beams toward the Mask.

The museum contains laser beams with numbers on them. A player may only cross a laser if they roll that number or can make a sum that results in that number. They may use as many dice as they want: 1, 2, 4, or all 6.

They pass the dice they used to the next player. With the dice they did not use for the sum, they may now roll for the next number.

Do they still have dice left? Then they may continue to the next card. They continue this way until all the dice are gone or they can no longer proceed.

Each child can play this game at their own level, because: if you roll 15, you can set aside three fives, but a 3 and a 5 is also allowed. With the latter, you have more dice left for your next round.

It is especially challenging to solve the puzzles for numbers above ten. Sometimes you may need to subtract, or you may have to both multiply and add to be allowed to jump over your number.

The most advantageous sum

Normally, I play this game on the board with four players, and each child works out their own sums. At the National Education Exhibition, we changed two things:

  • the board became a life-size math game
  • two teams of two or more people competed against each other.

Lessons learned! Because:

  • a life-size game creates a great deal of movement and dynamism
  • the teams discuss the best approach with each other. This leads to a lot of debate. A team never simply chose a sum, but always the most advantageous combination of dice.

In the classroom

In the classroom, I will still use the board, but I will use The Mask of Amon Ra between teams. It creates a rich language and math environment.

By the way, you can easily adapt the cards on the board yourself: if you have just covered multiplication tables, put a number of numbers from those tables on fifteen cards and the students will have a new challenge.

In the schoolyard

If you use this game in the schoolyard, you achieve several things at once: math, exercise, and cooperation.

Here is the recipe for turning the board game into a live math game:

  • Cut out a number of cardboard boards. As many as you like; the boards form the course.
  • Paint or spray numbers onto the boards. A quick alternative is to chalk the numbers onto the schoolyard.
  • Provide six large dice, preferably in different colors.
  • Buy two sturdy space hoppers.
  • Make sure someone collects the used dice and sets them aside. The team whose turn it is will then always know exactly which dice they may still use.