Love and Marriage

A single card is distributed to each player. The cards are numbered 1,2,3,... with ten cards more than there are players. Players have three minutes to find a partner and put their cards on the score chart, which is numbered 100,95,90... Each team's base score is divided by the difference between their cards. For example, players with a base score of 90 and cards 41 and 45 would score 22.5 points. The player with the smaller number in each pair gets a 5 point bonus.

At the end of the round, first place gets 5 points, second place gets 4 points, etc. At the end of five rounds the player with the highest score wins.

There are several variants:

1) Lying - players do not have to reveal their actual card numbers.

2) Cheating - players can cancel a marriage if they find a better partner. Players who are dumped receive a 5 point bonus on the round. Emptied spaces on the score track are not refilled.

3) The Big Trick - play the game with two different groups. With one group, describe the game mathematically. With the other, describe it romantically. Compare the differences in behavior of the players.

Love and Marriage was created for a middle school teacher who was looking for a good interactive classroom game on the subject of love and marriage. It was included in Chief Herman's Holiday Fun Pack.