24 Game

The cards are double-sided, thin cardboard squares with sides measuring approximately 10 cm. The conventional cards bear the Old Mutual logo in the centres of each side, however with the green and white inverted on one side to differentiate. Later variations of the cards bore red, blue and black logos.

The conventional card displays four numbers, each a single digit from 1 to 9. Numbers may repeat. The cards are designed to be viewed from any angle.

The card difficulty is ranked by displaying one, two or three dots in each corner of the card in white, red and yellow respectively, as the difficulty increases.

Although official rules were later published, the game evolved with common basic rules, and many smaller variations.

Any number of competitors (usually four at most) sit around a table. The cards are placed, one at a time, in the centre of the table. The first person to cover the card with their hand and claim to have the solution would then be given the first opportunity to give their answer.

The 24® Game game was intended and mostly played in tournament scenarios, ranging from school to international levels.

Competitors are initially distributed into tables of four, each with their own adjudicator. The game is played in rounds, with participants competing for points. Points are earned by solving cards, with one, two or three points assigned to cards of increasing difficulty. After claiming a solution to a card, if a participant failed to give a correct or legal solution their points would be deducted according to the difficulty. Rounds continue for a predefined length of time, at the end of which the points are tallied and the winners proceed.

At the top competition levels, there would typically be almost no delay between a card's placement and a participant's claiming it. Because there are only a finite number of cards that can be made, participants can give solutions from memory. Also, participants could exploit the small delay between claiming a card and giving its solution, to work out the solution.

Because of the finite extent of the basic cards, many variations and adaptations of the game were introduced to add complexity to tournaments.

Using the regular cards, the target total could be changed for a round, from the usual 24, to 25, 36 or 48.

Instead of many participants competing to solve communal cards for a set time, each participant could be presented with an entire pack of cards. The times taken to work through the pack, solving all cards, would be recorded and compared.

Early versions go the boxed games contained a cardboard sleeve that could hold two cards side-by-side could be used in the game. The sleeve allows three numbers from each card to be visible, while concealing the fourth number from each. Participants would be required to solve a sleeve by identifying a number that could be common to both cards, as well as giving both card solutions. These "Puzzle Sleeves" are no longer produced, but an edition titled "Variables" has been created to allow the same style of play.

New cards were later introduced to the games. The first card adaptation was the introduction of fractions.

A Maths24 card with the inclusion of variables, being used in an algebraic expression, in fractional form and with powers

Finally, cards were printed with x and y variables that could appear in many forms, including fractions, powers and algebraic expressions. Participants would be required to find positive integers less than ten that the variables could represent, as well as the solution.

In 2018, the 24® Game celebrated its 30th anniversary, continuing to help children sharpen basic math skills such as computation, problem solving, number sense, critical thinking, and pattern sensing.