If your looking for a fun game that can help you in both math and music, then Symphony Quest is for you! This game follows the Inquiry Question: “How can we explain like terms and polynomials in an engaging way?” and incorporates musical theory as a cool gameplay element. Want to know how to play? Read below:

 

How to Play

 

The object of the game is to be the first player to the end of the board. Two players will take turns starting on the winner of Rock Paper Scissors. Each player starts off with 5 cards in their hand, each of which will have a musical note on it. Each note corresponds with it’s length in music theory, which can be seen in the chart below. During a players turn, they will roll the Moves dice to determine how many squares they can move during that turn. Now most squares on the board are regular, but some are special squares.

Special squares will have a polynomial expression on them made up of 1-3 terms. This will also include a label marking if it is a monomial (1 Term), a binomial (2 Terms), or a Trinomial (3 Terms). Now if you land on a special square, you must search your hand for any like terms that could match up with the expression. How you do this is by counting the amount of beats each note card is on the Note Chart below, and then playing that card to collect like terms that match with the terms on the special square. You can also combine beats such as done in music to create different terms to match with the expression (add variables, exponents, etc.). You must use all the cards that can combine that you have in a turn.

Now add up all of the cards you just played and divide that number by 2.

This is the amount of prize cards you can draw on this turn. These cards must be played when they are drawn or discarded, and have either a positive affect on you, or a negative affect on your opponent, and use other concepts from music theory and like terms such as time signature and fractions. Once you use cards, you put them at the bottom of the deck and draw as many cards as needed until you have a hand of 6 again.

Note Chart

 

See which notes have which values on this chart:

Quarter Note: 1

Half Note: 2

Dotted Half Note: 3

Whole Note: 4

Eighth Note: 0.50

Sixteenth Note: 0.25

Quarter Note Rest: -1

Half Note Rest: -2

Whole Note Rest: -4

Eighth Note Rest: -0.50

Treble Clef: x variable

Bass Clef: y variable

2 Note Fermata: Exponent of 2

4 Note Fermata: Exponent of 3

Prize Cards

 

These are cards you can draw as prize cards:

3/4 time: Your opponent can only use cards that add up to 3 beats or under or -3 or over next turn (removes 1/4 beats)

2/4 time: Your opponent can only use cards that add up to 2 beats or under or -2 beats or over on their next turn (removes 2/4 beats)

Repeat: Works as an exponent. Makes one like term card you have collected squared, which gives you one more prize card

Sharp: Adds 1 to a constant of your choice in the expression

Flat: Subtracts 1 from a constant of your choice in the expression

Coda: Makes your opponent go back one turn (card effects are not reversed)

Natural: Removes one prize card from your opponent next turn