Retailer Review: aKumulate
by David Trounce

You can find out more about aKumulate in the Game Finder here

For those who enjoy playing with numbers, here’s a clever mathematical board game from the award-winning Dr. Wood stable in Australia (Dr. Wood is the Founder of Mind Challenge - makers of other classic mind-bending games like Kaleidoscope, Kogworks, Eight, Enkounter & Krusade). aKumulate, recently won the Dr Toy Best Vacation Toy Award, and does for maths what Scrabble has done for vocabulary.

The Play

aKumulate is an intelligent family game for anyone who loves numerical and strategy games. It is interactive, easy to learn, and there is plenty of  game-play. Mechanically, the game requires simple pattern recognition and tile placement.

In turn, pieces are placed strategically on the board in order to akumulate the highest score. Pieces may only be placed if they join up with other pieces and only if all squares equal the value of the adjoining squares. In the far reaches of the board, lie point accelerators which work in principle like "triple word scores".

By mutual consent, players choose a playing colour and receive all 16 pieces of their colour. The starting player puts the 'starter piece' (white bar) anywhere within the red zone in the centre of the board. The starting player now also places his or her first piece on the board by connecting it to the white bar.

Each player must connect their piece in such a way that the numbers on his/her piece numerically match all adjoining squares (see illustration). Scores are added and the player, like scrabble, with the highest score wins.

Educational Uses

As well as entertaining people, aKumulate has the capacity to open a child's mind to logical and deductive thinking and enhance problem-solving strategies. aKumulate requires and develops spatial and numerical thinking and is most suitable for 2-4 players aged 10 to adult.

Inventor, Dr Wood, who has a background in psychology and education has said of his creation,

"Our puzzles are one of the last bastions against the encroachment of technology.
I try to create fast brains rather than fast forefingers.”

aKumulate is not only enjoyable, but it can also be used for intelligence testing and in research for understanding different approaches to problem-solving.

Teachers have already used aKumulate in courses for gifted and talented students, saying they are a great tool for developing children’s cognitive functioning and promoting self-esteem. As strange as it may seem, though developed in Australia, aKumulate is currently India's leading educational maths puzzle and fast becoming a standard family game.

You can purchase aKumulate at Games from Everywhere, as well as through selected department and educational specialty stores worldwide.
This review was written by David Trounce, from www.gamesfromeverywhere.com.au