Primo, a board game which puts the ‘fun’ in the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, has now been successfully funded via Kickstarter. In a recent blog post, the creators Katherine Cook and Daniel Finkel boast:

The game plays beautifully in play test after play test. It’s one of the most mathematically rich games we have ever seen, and at the same time avoids that icky “educational game” feel. Primo is a real game and it’s worth playing because it’s fun. Really fun.

To play the game, each player rolls dice and moves either or both of their two pieces, using the numbers they’ve rolled to devise an optimal move by adding or multiplying. Landing on the other player’s pieces sends them back to the start, and landing on a prime number rewards you with a Primo card which instructs you to do something interesting, like take another turn, switch the two digits of the number you’re on (73 → 37), or prove a theorem in elementary number theory (only kidding – I did say ‘something interesting’).

While they’ve reached their funding target, which means the game will definitely be put into production, there’s still a few weeks left on the project’s Kickstarter, so you can still pledge money in return for copies of the game as soon as it’s out (plus other goodies like printable versions and class sets, depending on how much you pledge).

More information

Primo – the beautiful, colorful, mathematical board game fundraising page on Kickstarter

Announcement post on the Math For Love blog

Via Paul Solomon