24 Game

24 Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Proctor Guidelines

Source: 24 Challenge Proctor Guidelines (Suntex International).

General

Students sit 3* or 4 to a table; Proctors stand. All students play for two rounds to qualify for Semi-finals.

(*At a table with only three students, remove two 2 Dot cards from the deck, to create equity.)

The first round is played with Single Digits cards WHITE sides up. Second round is played with Double Digits cards with RED sides up. Be sure all students are using the same side at the same time.

Students must keep fingers on the blue outer area of the Tournament Mat before card is put into play.

Proctor puts a card into play by "cupping" the card in the palm of one hand and placing it in the centre of tournament mat. Keep deck out of sight, against chest or under table.

The first student that touches the card with no more than three fingertips may solve the card. (Slapping the card with the entire hand is not allowed and is grounds for disqualification.)

Proctor determines who was the first student to touch the card. That student must announce the pattern (last step of the solution to make 24; i.e. "3 times 8" or "15 plus 9") within three (3) seconds of touching the card. Student must give complete solution with same pattern as final step. Commutative laws of addition and multiplication apply (8 x 3 = 3 x 8) and (20 + 4 = 4 + 20).

The final solution (all three steps) must be completed within 15 seconds.

Student may correct himself until he "fixes" the solution by saying "equals, makes or is 24."

No run-on answers (3 + 3 x 4 x 1 = 24) permitted. ALL solutions are three steps.

If no student touches a card after 15 seconds, set that card aside in a separate pile.

Points are tallied by Proctors at the end of each round and recorded on each student's Score Card along with Proctors' initials. Student Score card travels with him/her throughout the tournament.

Penalty Flags and Disqualification

Five ways to draw a penalty flag:

Student does not announce a pattern within three seconds.
Student does not complete solution within 15 seconds.
Solution given is incorrect.
Student touches card with more than 3 fingertips.
Student touches proctor's hand before it is withdrawn.

In Rounds 1 & 2, three penalty flags = disqualification. In Rounds 3 & 4, two penalty flags = disqualification.

Disqualified students keep points scored up to the point of disqualification. Penalty flags do not follow a player. All players start with a clean slate at the beginning of each round. When a student gets a penalty flag, the card is taken out of play and returned to the deck to be played again later. If all students at a table except for one are disqualified, the remaining student may play for the balance of the cards.

Official Tournament Rules

Source: 24 Challenge Official Tournament Rules (Suntex International).

Seating

Students sit three or four to a table, by grade level or section level (i.e. 4th & 5th grades combined).

Students sit toward one side with the proctor (sitting or standing) on the opposite side.

Number of Rounds Played

Tournaments consist of four rounds, each lasting 10 to 20 minutes. Points won by each student in Rounds 1 and 2 are added to determine who advances to the Semi-final Round 3. Semi-final Round 3 and Final Round 4 are face-off rounds; the highest scoring student at each table advances. Students may be given a break between rounds. If the players at a table finish early, they should wait for the round to end, so as to not disturb other students.

Number of Cards Played

A fixed number of cards are played in each round. (Preferred over a timed round because it is not dependent upon the speed with which proctors put the cards into play and does not put a table with a slow proctor at a disadvantage.)

Proctors

One Proctor at each table. (Proctors must be familiar with all 24 Challenge® Tournament Rules of Play.)

Putting Cards into Play

A proctor puts a card into play by "cupping" the card in the palm of one hand. The proctor places the cupped card into the centre of the table and then withdraws the hand to reveal the numbers.

Students' Hand Position

Student fingertips should be placed on blue area of Tournament Mat - where the cards are put into play. If a special Tournament Mat is used, students must keep their hands on the blue area only.

Making a Declaration

Student declares by touching anywhere on the card, but with no more than three fingertips. Proctor determines first student to touch the card. That student must announce the pattern (last step of the solution to make 24; i.e. "3 times 8" or "15 plus 9") within 3 seconds of touching the card, before given the opportunity to giving a solution.

Giving the Solution

The complete solution (all three steps) must then be completed within 15 seconds. A student cannot change the pattern that he states within the first 3 seconds, and must complete his solution using this same pattern. A student may correct himself and change the first and second steps of his solution until he "fixes" the solution by saying "equals, makes or is 24".

Penalty Flags

If a student cannot give the solution or gives an incorrect solution, he/she receives a penalty flag (use Post-it® brand notes or tokens). Students who receive three penalties in a round, during rounds 1 and 2, are disqualified from further play during that round. Students are limited to two penalty flags in Rounds 3 and 4. Disqualified students keep points scored up to the point of disqualification. Penalty flags do not follow a player. All players start with a clean slate at the beginning of each round. When a student gets a penalty flag, the card is taken out of play and returned to the deck to be played again later.

Student does not announce a pattern within three seconds.
Student does not complete solution within 15 seconds.
Solution given is incorrect.
Student touches card with more than 3 fingertips.
Student touches proctor's hand before it is withdrawn.

Stumped Cards

If all students at the table agree that they are stumped, or if no student makes an attempt to answer a card after 15 seconds, the proctor removes that card for later play.

Rounds of Play

Round 1. Play for 48 cards. Take the first half of a 96-card deck and arrange the cards so that all the red sides (colour of centre square on the cards) are facing up. (The first half of the deck will give you 12 one point, 24 two point and 12 three point cards.) Shuffle the cards and you are ready to begin. Make sure that all tables are using the same cards. All students play Round 1.

Round 2. Flip the above 48 cards over and play the white side. Students change tables to get a chance to play with different players in their own grade or section level. All students play Round 2.

Scoring

Proctors tally points at the end of each round. Remember to count points and not just the number of cards, as a card may be worth three points (look for the number of dots in the card's corner to determine the point value). 1 Dot cards are worth one point, 2 Dot cards are worth two points and 3 Dot cards are worth three points. Proctors enter each student's score on his/her scorecard. Scores from Rounds 1 & 2 will be added together. The sixteen highest scores from each grade level advance to the Semi-final Round 3. Semi-finalists are seated four to a table.

Semi-Final Round 3

Play for another 48 cards (ex-second half of the 96 card deck), red side. This third round is a "face-off" round. Only the points earned in this round are used to determine the winners, the scores from the previous rounds are disregarded. The highest scoring student at each semi-final table advances to the Final Round 4 to determine the grade/section level champions.

Final Round 4

Flip over the above 48 cards and play the white side. The highest-scoring student in this final round is the overall grade or section level champion. As in Round 3, all previous scores are disregarded.

Miscellaneous

In the case of a tie, tied players play a five-minute round. In case of a protest, it is up to the proctor at each table to settle the protest. To encourage mental math, we suggest that pencil and paper not be used by students during play.

Special Instructions (Playing Both Single Digits & Double Digits)

Round 1 may be played with 48 Single Digits cards. Round 2 may be played with 48 Double Digits cards. Semi-final Round 3 and Final Round 4 may be played with a combination of Single Digits, Double Digits and Variables cards.

Note on the sources: the Proctor Guidelines and the Official Tournament Rules describe the card sides for Rounds 1 and 2 differently (the Guidelines have Single Digits cards white-side up in Round 1 and Double Digits red-side up in Round 2; the Tournament Rules have the red side up in Round 1 and the white side in Round 2). Both are reproduced as printed; the proctor should follow whichever document the tournament is running under.

Casual Play (Card Text)

Source: photograph of the printed rules card of the 24 Game Pocket Edition (1989 version), as printed on the card. The photograph is partly cut off and parts of the reverse side are not legible; these gaps are marked in square brackets and have not been filled in. The card's heading reads "Red".

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to win points, by being the first to make "TWENTY-FOUR" with all four numbers on a card.

The Twenty-Four Game

The TWENTY-FOUR Game comes with cards that are printed on both sides. Each side has a different set of four numbers.

Cards are worth one, two or three points, rated by difficulty. Look at a corner of a card to tell if it's a one point card (one white dot), two point card (two red dots) or three point card (three yellow dots).

All 9's have been "filled in" in red to make it easy for you to tell the 6's from the 9's.

How to Play

Count off a stack of cards from the deck (we suggest you use anywhere from 12 to 24 cards and use "one point" and "two point" cards for an easy start). Any number of players can play. All players are playing at the same time, for the same top card.
To win a card, you must be the first to figure out how to make TWENTY-FOUR. You can add, subtract, multiply or divide. You must use all four numbers, but use each number only once.

Examples

4 + 8 = 12 7 - 5 = 2 2 x 12 = 24

2 ÷ 2 = 1 7 - 1 = 6 4 x 6 = 24

Reverse Side (partly legible)

[Only fragments are legible on the reverse. Text visible reads: "...see a 3 on the card, make an ..." followed by "...other numbers:" and the example equations "... ÷ 7 = 1" and "... = 8". The remainder is cut off.]

If you claim "I got it" but can't quickly give a solution, you lose your right to win that card. The other players continue to play for that card.

When Players Can't Find A Solution. Every card has at least one solution. But, some have a dozen. [Remainder not legible.] ... card stumps all players, that card ... put aside as a bonus card. All players must agree that ... The player who ... will also win the ...

[The lower part of the reverse, headed with a partly visible section title, is not legible in the photograph.]