Game night in our house is always looked forward to and is lots of fun for everybody involved: two adults and two children. We own lots of games and have quite a variety, from table-banging, hand-bruising grabbing games to classic strategy games. Then we have games that you have to put your thinking cap on to play. We recently received one such game to review, a game that is very much like Scrabble (just without a board) or Bananagrams, but rather than uses letters it uses numbers and operations to create basic maths equations, a game that puts basic maths skills to the test. This game is called Möbi.
Möbi is a fun, fast-paced numerical tile game where young children (and of course their adults) can learn and apply basic maths skills. It comes supplied in an extremely funky bag that looks like a blue whale (Captain Ahab or the Pequod are not in sight though).
In the zip-up whale pouch:
- 162 Tiles – number tiles, operation tiles and wildcard tiles
- Instructions
Möbi is a portable family game for 1-6 players aged 6+, a quick-thinking numeracy game that puts your maths skills to the test in a crossword pattern of mathematical equations. Whether you use simple or complex equations (rules of operation must be followed), to win you must be the first player to use up all their tiles once the tiles in the middle of the table have been used (and all your sums have to be correct).
Setting up to play is very easy, just take the tiles out of the zip-up whale and place all the number tiles (blue tiles) face down in the centre of the table. Place the double-sided operation tiles within easy reach of all players. If playing with 2-4 players, each player takes 7 number tiles. If playing with 5-6 players, each player takes 5 number tiles. No player has any operation tiles, they are accessible to everybody and can be used when needed.
Everybody plays together, building pods (a collection of equations that looks like a crossword puzzle). Each equation must have at least one operation sign (+, -, x or ÷) and an = sign, and the answer to be correct (e.g., 2+2=4). All equations must use the correct order of operation (BODMAS), so 2+2×3=8 would be correct but an answer of 12 would be incorrect. Once a player gets down to their last tile they shout out “Flip” and then All PLAYERS must take 3 more number tiles from the communal pile in the centre of the table. If a player is unable to use a number tile they can shout out “SWAP” and swap that number for TWO other tiles. Play continues until there are no tiles left in the communal pool and the winner will be the first player to get rid of all their tiles. This player then shouts out “MÖBI”. At this point the equations in their pods are checked – if all sums are correct, they are the winner, if any sum is incorrect then they are disqualified and their played tiles are placed back into the communal pool and play continues with the remaining players.
As well as the basic standard play, there are five other different ways to play Möbi, from solo play to team play, children to expert:
Möbi for Children: want to make Möbi more kid-friendly? Remove the multiplication and division tiles from the game. In addition, feel free to take out the number ‘11’ and ‘12’ tiles if you wish. Follow traditional game play once these tiles are removed.
Möbi for Experts: want to make Möbi more challenging? When ‘FLIP!’ is called, adjust the number of tiles picked up from THREE to ONE or TWO. This will ensure that with each ‘FLIP!’, all players must rearrange at least one of their existing equations
Solo Möbi: playing by yourself? Challenge yourself to a time challenge. Start with 7 tiles and follow traditional game play. Take new tiles (‘FLIP!’) only once all of your tiles have been used. Time yourself to see how fast you can complete your ‘Pod’! Feel free to remove a portion of the communal ‘number’ tiles to speed up the game if you wish
Chill Möbi: too much stress with all this ‘FLIP!’ and ‘SWAP!’ business? Try starting the game with all of the ‘number’ tiles distributed equally among players. This way players don’t need to ‘FLIP!’ or ‘SWAP!’ throughout the game. Players compete to finish their ‘Pod’ first
Team Möbi: prefer to play in a pod of your own? Form teams of two or three. Each team takes 7 tiles. One player from each team starts the team’s ‘Pod’ upon ‘GO!’. Once the first ‘FLIP!’ is called, the second player from each team jumps in and takes over. If there is a third player, they take over after the second ‘FLIP!’ and the team cycles through turns until the game is complete. Note: Each team is only working on one ‘Pod’ throughout the entire game.
Overall, despite the kids deciding before playing that they didn’t want to “do maths” we all (including the kids) absolutely loved this game. Not only is it an excellent family game but it is a great teaching game for reinforcing or teaching basic maths skills with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division but it is also excellent for teaching the order of operations.
It is a portable game as it is supplied in a zip-up whale pouch and doesn’t take up much space. It can be taken anywhere and played on any flat surface.
The rules are simple to understand, and the game can be easily adapted for different age groups or skill levels. The number tiles range from 1 to 12, so you can’t make massive sums which does somewhat limit the equations you can make.
Playing is simple, and game play is quite fast (about 15 to 20 minutes) as there is no waiting for somebody to take a turn. Adult and more confident players may have to make some allowances for younger players as their maths skills will be at slower pace, so you might want to adjust rules to suit your family.
We loved it. It is a fun, fast and fantastically entertaining game. It can be played as a competitive game, used as a teaching tool or used just for practicing basic maths skills.
With Christmas approaching, Möbi would make an excellent gift and is certainly a good addition to the game’s cupboard.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £19.99
Available to buy from www.happypuzzle.co.uk or Amazon here.
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