NAMBARZ®: The number card game
By Ayham Alata
NAMBARZ® is a game of mental arithmetic and strategy for adults and children, age 7 and up. Played by anywhere from 2 to 12 players at once, either as individuals or in teams, it is an educational game which promotes the practice of mental arithmetic, as well as strategic thinking, while having fun.
It does not require complex math exercises. The idea is to perform combinations of mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) using numbers from 1 to 10. The goal of the game is that a player be the first to discard all of his or her cards. The sooner a player finishes, the better his or her ranking and the more points received.
There are two possible means of getting rid of cards : either by finding a card that matches the card which is face up in the card pile (that is, sharing the same face number or picture), or by doing mental math (which is not limited to a certain number of cards or number of mathematical operations). The latter allows a player to eliminate several cards at once.
The game’s challenge is to find mathematical combinations that allow the elimination of a maximum number of cards at one time. It must be kept in mind that strategy is required, both in the choice of cards and in the order of the mathematical operations performed, in order to create an advantage in the next round or for a teammate’s next play.
Four types of wildcards are included to make game strategy even more challenging and exciting. The variations that are built into the game allow players to advance gradually from beginners to seasoned players, depending on the number of wildcards that are used.