At this point if I run across any game by Gamewright at a used bookstore or garage sale I just buy it! None of their games have disappointed me yet, and the Granny Apples dice game was no exception.
The game can be played by 2-6 players and game play takes about 15 minutes.
The description on the box calls Granny Apples a quick counting apple dice game. It is a simple but fun addition/subtraction game to play with the added bonus of being a great introduction to basic fraction addition/subtraction (adding and subtracting wholes and halves.) It presents the fractional concepts in a hands on way so even young kids can understand. This was evidenced the first time I played with a kindergartener and he announced matter of factly that 3/2 is the same as 1 1/2, demonstrating with the apples.
The game comes with 8 wooden apple “dice” which have a picture of an apple cross-section, worm, pie, bird or Granny. Players earn apple tokens by correctly adding/subtracting as follows: Each apple that lands face down counts as one apple. An apple that lands face-up with the picture of the cross-section counts as a half-apple. If the apple with the pie shows face-up, players must subtract two apples from the total. If the apple with the worm shows face-up, players must subtract one apple from the total. However if the apple with the bird shows face-up, it eats the worm. Finally, if Granny’s face shows face-up, players put an apple token into her basket.
When there are 12 apple tokens in Granny’s basket, the game ends and the player with the most tokens wins.
The official rules call for players to alternate being the “orchard manager”. The manager rolls the dice and all other players compete to see who can call out the correct answer first. When playing with younger kids or kids who are less competitive, I would suggest modifying. Do this by taking turns rolling the dice and figuring the total, with only the player whose turn it is earning tokens. By playing in this way, I would recommend the game for students as young as kindergarten. This is a great game for both home and school.
Please see my “Games” page for other great board, card, and dice games!
