Adsumudi Wild Ones plays exactly like classic Adsumudi, but some cards will feature fractions, decimals, big numbers, or even money. This makes Wild Ones a wildly brain-stretching challenge for advanced students and adults alike!
Find the secret math path to Adsumudi’s answer on each card by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing the five other numbers. Keep the cards you figure out first and collect 5 to win!
Each player first chooses their own difficulty level for the game. Adsumudi recommends that anyone who hasn’t played yet should start off on easy, then gradually move up to medium, then hard, then monstrously hard. Players in the same game don’t necessarily have to play at the same difficulty.
Get started by placing the entire stack of cards in the center of the table.
At the same time, all players focus on the top card and try to create Adsumudi’s answer (the number in the center) using the five other numbers on that card. Numbers can only be used once each in a given equation, but players can use any combination of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division they need. (Money cards only require addition and subtraction.)
If a player is playing on easy, they can use any two or more of the five numbers to make Adsumudi’s answer. If on medium, they have to use three or more. If on hard, they have to use any four or more. And if they’re playing on monstrously hard, they have to use all five numbers.
For example, pretend that the five numbers on a card are 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5, and Adsumudi’s answer is 0.6. If you’re playing on easy, you could come up with 0.1 + 0.5. Or on medium, you could use 0.3 × (0.2 ÷ 0.1). Or on hard, you could use 0.5 − 0.1 + 0.4 − 0.2. Or on monstrously hard, you could use (0.5 × 0.3) × (0.4 ÷ (0.2 − 0.1)). Actually, all of these would be acceptable ways to make 0.6 for someone playing on easy since you have to use at least two numbers on easy, but you can always use more if you want. However, you couldn’t use 0.2 + 0.4 on medium because it doesn’t use at least three numbers, and you also couldn’t ever use 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.2 + 0.2 because it uses numbers more than once.
Once any player finds an equation that works for their difficulty level, they should shout “Adsumudi!”. Doing so pauses the game and gives that player a chance to prove that the math works. If it checks out, the player takes the card and keeps it. Everyone then continues playing with the next card on the top of the deck.
If a player’s math doesn’t check out, there’s no penalty. Play continues until someone gets it right. Or if all players agree that a given card is too hard, simply put it at the bottom of the deck and move on to the next card on top.
The first player to collect 5 cards wins! Or for a shorter game, play to 3!
Doing mental math with fractions is challenging, so you’ll have to be clever about it! When adding or subtracting, look for fractions that already have a common denominator (like ¼ and ¾) or where you can easily make a common denominator (like ½ and ¼). And when multiplying or dividing, focus on ones that easily reduce (like with ⅓ × ¾ where the 3’s cancel and leave you with ¼).
There are two great ways to do quick decimal math in your head. When adding and subtracting, try working with the whole number and decimal parts separately. So to add 1.6 + 2.1, first do 1 + 2 to get 3, then do 0.6 + 0.1 to get 0.7. Then simply combine to get the answer 3.7. When multiplying or dividing, just ignore the decimal point! So think of an equation like 3.6 ÷ 9 as simply 36 ÷ 9. When you get your answer without the decimal (4 in this case), just add the decimal back in the right spot (here you’ll get 0.4).
Mental math with money is fun! When your brain is working on something like $10.75 + $2.25 or $5 − $3.50, try to imagine you have actual money in your hands and you’re receiving payment or giving change. Remember that all Adsumudi money cards can be solved with just addition and subtraction, so keep your calculations simple! And note that Tip #2 for decimals applies to money in exactly the same way.
Don’t be intimidated by all those zeros! Working with big numbers is just like working with small numbers. When tackling monsters like 1500 + 40 or 2500 ÷ 50, just think of them as their small number counterparts: 150 + 4 and 25 ÷ 5. Once you get your answer (154 and 5 in these cases), simply remember to add back the right number of zeros (here you’ll get 1540 and 50). Quickly knowing how many zeros to remove and add back will require a solid understanding of place value and may take some practice!
Each card displays 1, 2, or 3 white stars at top. These indicate the card’s general difficulty level, where 1 star is the easiest and 3 stars is the hardest. If desired, you can use these to split the deck up for players of different mathematical abilities.
Instead of competing for each card, players can work together to find solutions. Simply choose easy, medium, hard, or monstrously hard, then see how many cards you can get through as a team!
In this version, players work together to find solutions to all difficulty levels on a given card before moving on. Start by finding the easy solution, then medium, then hard, then monstrously hard. Don’t give up and feel free to grab a hint if you need. It’ll be satisfying to get them all!
Give all players pencil and paper, flip over a card, and start a 1-minute timer (or longer if preferred). Before time runs out, all players write down as many easy, medium, hard, or monstrously hard equations as they can find. When time runs out, players share their answers and get 1 point per number used in a valid equation. For example, if the target is 4.6 and a player finds 1.2 + 3.4 and 9 ÷ 2 + 0.1, she gets 2 points for the first equation and 3 points for the second. Whoever has the most points in a given round wins the card. After 3 or 5 rounds, whoever has the most cards wins!
Can’t get enough Adsumudi?
Play endlessly online
or learn more about
Adsumudi classic,
Adsumudi Fun Ones,
and
Adsumudi Little Ones
at
byevermade.com/adsumudi
