Betcha Can't Win

Explore

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
In Betcha Can't Win, players look at the rolled dice to evaluate if any combination of rolled dice add up to numbers on the Number Cards.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No special adult support required.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
No special adult support required.

Determine

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players combine dice together to determine which are the best combinations for scoring, and whether to roll again. They also need to determine whether to pursue Unsecured Cards or one or more of the Numbered Cards in the play area.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
After rolling, encourage children to move dice around into different arrangements in order to evaluate each scoring option. Also, to help children develop patience and precision, encourage them to look closely at the dice in order to ensure they are scoring properly, and to look at all of the face up cards, including Unsecured Cards.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Scoring in Betcha Can't Win involves symbolic meaning. The value of the cards is based on their color, not their number value. You may need to remind children of this scoring method to help them make choice for which cards to try to match. After rolling, encourage children to move dice around into different arrangements in order to evaluate each scoring option. Also, to help children develop patience and precision, encourage them to look closely at the dice in order to ensure they are scoring properly, and to look at all of the face up cards, including Unsecured Cards. Also, educators can ask questions to help children consider strategic options. For example, "How will another player react if you try to match their Unsecured Card?" or "Does another player have more points than you? Make sure to look at the color of their cards."

Compare

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players compare the different dice and scoring combinations. They also compare their score to opponents as part of planning and strategizing choices.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
After rolling, encourage children to move dice around into different arrangements in order to evaluate each scoring option. Also, to help children develop patience and precision, encourage them to look closely at the dice in order to ensure they are scoring properly, and to look at all of the face up cards, including Unsecured Cards. Additionally, remind them to look at the cumulative scores of their opponents which can influence their risk/reward assessment of whether to roll again, stop rolling or try to take an Unsecured Card. Young children may be inclined to act impulsively. Encourage children to think about what might happen with another roll, whether to try to match an Unsecured Card, to leave dice on a Numbered Card, etc.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
After rolling, encourage children to move dice around into different arrangements in order to evaluate each scoring option. Also, to help children develop patience and precision, encourage them to look closely at the dice in order to ensure they are scoring properly, and to look at all of the face up cards, including Unsecured Cards. Additionally, remind them to look at the cumulative scores of their opponents which can influence their risk/reward assessment of whether to roll again, stop rolling or try to take an Unsecured Card.

Remember

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
After playing numerous times, players will begin to remember prior decisions and outcomes. This will influence their ability to make risk-reward analysis on current rolls of the dice.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
If you see a child in a situation that is similar to a prior game, remind her or him what happened last time. This will help the child think more thoroughly and reduce impulsivity.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
If you see a child in a situation that is similar to a prior game, remind her or him what happened last time. This will help the child think more thoroughly and reduce impulsivity.

Predict

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Predicting is essential to Betcha Can't Win. On every turn after the initial roll, the player rolling the dice is predicting what numbers may come up in order to decide whether to roll again or stop their turn.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
If you see a child in a situation that is similar to a prior game, remind her or him what happened last time. This will help the child think more thoroughly and assess risk/reward of rolling or stopping. Parents can prompt children to practice predicting by asking them to think how many dice they will have left to throw and what chances are they will throw what they want. They can also make predictions about what the opponent will do after they have their first throw.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Predicting involves skills like analysis, observation, empathy and interpretation. Also, children need to learn how to change perspective, imagining being their opponent, in order to have optimal predicting skills. Educators can prompt children to practice predicting by asking them to think the opponents will do on their next turn. Playing Betcha Can't Win requires analyzing the odds of rolling scoring dice and whether the potential additional score is worth the risk of having your dice left on Numbered Cards without making a match. There is additional risk-reward analysis by players in deciding whether to pursue an Unsecured Card, and what value of Numbered Cards to try to match (since lower valued cards are easier to match). All of this risk-reward analysis and choice-making is driven by making hypotheses and predictions.

Plan

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Because the Betcha Can't Win is constantly changing as opponents roll dice and make moves, it is very hard to plan for a specific outcome. Players can try to set up dice on cards for future turns, but are primarily Predicting what they think may or may not occur.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No special adult support required.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
No special adult support required.

Experiment

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players may experiment with more or less risky strategies. For example, a more aggressive strategy would involve trying to match higher valued cards and taking Unsecured Cards from other players.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No special parent support required.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
No special educator support required.

Practice

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
The more they play, the more players will increase their understanding of the odds of successfully rolling scoring dice on a turn.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
The more proficient children become in understanding the odds, the more accurate their risk-reward analysis and choices will be.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
The more proficient children become in understanding the odds, the more accurate their risk-reward analysis and choices will be.

Solve

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players rely heavily on prediction and analysis to solve the goal of the game, scoring the most points based on value of cards collected. On every turn after the initial roll, the player rolling the dice is predicting what numbers may come up in order to decide whether to make the roll or end the turn. They also resolve each turn by taking any Numbered Cards that they matched, which become Unsecured Cards.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Encourage children to stop and think before rolling again. This will help reduce impulsivity and increase their ability to consider the risk-reward of rolling versus stopping their turn with the current Cards they have matched. Also, draw children's attention the Unsecured Cards of opponents in order to potentially prevent an opponent from scoring on their next turn.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Solving in this game is aligned to predicting and strategic thinking, therefore, it involves skills like analysis, observation, empathy and interpretation. Also, children need to learn how to change perspective, imagining being their opponent. Educators can prompt children to practice predicting by asking them to think about what the opponents will do on their next turn. Playing Betcha Can't Win requires analyzing the odds of rolling scoring dice and whether the potential additional score is worth the risk of having your dice left on Numbered Cards without making a match. There is additional risk-reward analysis by players in deciding whether to pursue an Unsecured Card, and what value of Numbered Cards to try to match (since lower valued cards are easier to match). All of this risk-reward analysis and choice-making is driven by making hypotheses and predictions, which is foundational for strategic thinking.

Review

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Children may voluntarily analyze their risk assessment and decision making during and after the game.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
If children do not spontaneously share their analysis, encourage them to discuss the results of different decisions they made. Adults can model this for them by sharing what happened as a result of their decisions about strategies.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
If children do not spontaneously share their analysis, encourage them to discuss the results of different decisions they made. Adults can model this for them by sharing what happened as a result of their decisions about strategies.

Demonstrate

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players demonstrate by verbally adding up the points at the end of the game.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No special adult support required.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
No special adult support required.

Cognitive

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
For children with cognitive delays, play with three dice, and play with only blue and green cards for lower numbers.

Children may miss or count dice twice, if they are added where they land when thrown. Encourage children to line up the dice in rows with the larger numbers in one row and matching or smaller numbers in another. This will help them organize their addition options.

Communication

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Communication is not necessary, but other players will want to be able to see the dice to check addition.

Children can be encouraged to add their dice aloud, but if this is not possible, they can use sign or demonstrate with fingers if needed.

Sensorimotor

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Use a cup for tipping over the dice. This will help children who have difficulty controlling a dice throw.

Have another player arrange the dice in an organized way to help the child add in a linear manner.

Social Emotional/Behavioral

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children who have attention, impulsivity, or frustration tolerance issues may do better with fewer dice. Eliminate the highest value cards (yellow) and play with just 4 dice.

For children with low frustration tolerance, allow them to secure their card after the next player's turn. This allows for some risk of loss, but not as much as if all players must take a turn before securing the card.

Vision

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
If children have severe vision issues the game is not recommended.

Trace the numbers on the cards with a black marker to provide extra vision contrast (especially yellow, which has the least contrast to the background). Substitute large dice made for children with vision impairment.

The values written on the cards are very small, so write the card value numbers in large print on a piece of paper (YELLOW = 20 POINTS).

Hearing

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Hearing should not be an issue if players can see the dice to check addition. Teach players the signs for numbers, so all can use them in the game.

*Data compiled from CCSSI ELA Standards, WA Science Standards, and Washington Social Studies Standards

Extra Ways to Play the Game
This variation adds wagering and strategy element. The rules are the same, except for the "Betcha Can't Win" card addition described next: At the start of the game, deal and lay out cards as normal. The last card laid down becomes the "Betcha Can't Win" card. The first player (Player 1) is then challenged to win that card. If Player 1 can roll dice equal to the card's Target Sum, then Player 1 takes the card as a Secured Card. If Player 1 cannot equal the card value, then nothing special happens. Play continues to the left. At this point, Player 1 selects any of the 5 cards in the Play Area as the next "Betcha Can't Win" card. Now Player 2 has an opportunity to try to win that card. However, if Player 2 does not capture this card, the Player 1 gets to take the card as Unsecured. Continue in this way for all subsequent turns. Yellow Cards have an extra rule. If a yellow card is selected for "Betcha Can't Win", and the player wins the card, the player is allowed to take a card from the challenging player's cards as a bonus. If the card is not captured, the card remains in the Play Area.

Materials Needed
No additional materials needed.

Developmental Benefits
This modification encourages players to analyze the difficulty of a player obtaining a certain number on the dice. Players also have to evaluate the risk and benefit of choosing a difficult card.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Play with addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Any combination of operations with the dice can win a card. For example, a 5, 4 and 3 can equal 4 (5-4+3), 17 (5x4-3) and 27 (5+4x3).

Materials Needed
No additional materials are needed

Developmental Benefits
This modification allows players to be creative and use multiple perspectives to achieve a desired result. It encourages players to experiment with combining different math operations.