The Four Fours

Here is an interesting math puzzle that you can play just about anywhere.  All you really need is paper and a writing instrument.  A calculator is not needed, but it is highly recommended!  The rules of this puzzle are simple enough, although there are some variants.  The rules given here are the ones I was given when I first learned of this math puzzle.

Using four fours, you are to find a mathematical expression for every whole number you can starting with zero.  You can use addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, factorials, decimal points, exponents, 0.4bar (i.e., the recurring decimal 0.44444. . .), and square roots.  Use of parentheses to emphasize the order of operations is not only allowed, but encouraged!

Some examples are:

0 = (4 + 4) – (4 + 4)

17 = (4 x 4) + (4 ÷ 4)

The Four Fours puzzle (a.k.a., The Four Fours Problem) has been known for years, and was described by Walter William Rouse Ball in his publication “Mathematical Recreations and Essays”:

Often times, there are multiple possible solutions.  How many can you find?

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Math Tricks Presents – Continuum II!

We have a new game for you – well, sort of.  It is a squeal to the last math game.  In this game, though, I eliminated the fractal backgrounds.  Although many people liked them, I received too many negative reviews about how the  images made it difficult to see the ball during run time.

Also, I slowed down the ball speed a bit to make it a little easier.  Yea, I also found a ball speed bug that was corrected.  LOL – no matter what, it seems, I get elusive bugs in my games, so if you see any in this one, please let me know!

To play the game, please Click Here.

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Continuum – Action Math Game!

The new online math game is out, and I hope you will enjoy it!

For this game, I included several math aspects.  The most obvious one is the use of fractals for the backgrounds.  I think they add a level of depth to the play fields – and are really cool to look at!

Next, I made all the bricks in the game golden rectangles.  Well, as close as I could anyway, because I had to use integer units in the design.  The dimensions of the bricks are 41 x 25 pixels, giving a ratio of 1.64 width to height, which is just a tad more than the actual value of approximately 1.61803399.

Lastly, I made as targets in the game polygons, which contain interfering balls after the polygons are destroyed.

This game is a little more mainstream from the others I have made for Math Tricks, but I think it is the most enjoyable.  Here is a game-play screen shot:

Anyway, it is online, and you can play it here.  Please feel free to give me any comments and suggestions!

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Daily Squares on Mochi Games!  But . . .

Please Help!

Dear Visitors,

I have submitted Daily Squares to the Mochi games network, and it has been accepted.  Good news!  But the problem is that it needs a little love.  As a new game on the network, it has not been very many hits.  The way a game gets popular on their network is with game plays, but being a new game, and being a math game, and yes, being my “hello world” first flash game, it does not get much publicity on the network.

Please Play Here

So my plead to you is that you please play it at least once to get my hit count up.  Also, there is a Facebook “Like” button on the page which, if you can, would be of much help if you were to like it.  Please Click Here to play.

I have been tweeking the game to make it more enjoyable – and easier.  It has been in beta for a while, and the release to Mochi Games means an end to the beta phase.  I will be coming out with more games in the near future, but I will not limit myself to pure math games – but I do have an idea for an interesting puzzle/logic game that may soon go into development.

One last thing – if you find this game enjoyable, please pass it along to your friends!  The URL to the game is:

http://www.mochigames.com/games/daily-squares/

Thanks so much!!

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