Money Cards (Deduction Game)

Overview

Money Cards is a speaking activity that offers students an engaging method of practicing using numbers and talking about quantity.

Even complete English beginners will be able to play this game after memorizing as few as 10 numbers and 3 vocabulary words.

Currently, there is 1 set of 27 cards available for this game. Each card features a unique collection of coins. However, some of the cards intentionally have the same total currency value, which potentially allows for development of students' understanding of mathematical fundamentals.

This is a deduction card game designed for purpose of providing learners with the opportunity to get repeated verbal communication practice of some key speaking skills. Players need to use their verbal skills to deduce which of the cards laid out in front of them matches the "secret card" in their activity partner's possession, by using the sentence structure "How many ____ (10/20/50) cent coins do you have?"

How To Play

Groups: This game is best played in pairs of two participants. One participant in each group will be the asker and the other will be the answerer.

Materials: Two identical sets of the 27 Money Cards are needed for each pair of two participants. This means two sets of Set A.

Time / Game Round: 1-2 minutes

• The asker should lay out one set of game cards in front of them and the answerer should draw one "secret card" from an identical set of cards. The "secret card" will therefore match one of the 27 cards laid out in front of the asker.
  
  
• The answerer can look at the "secret card," but they aren't allowed to show it to the asker. The asker can only learn whic coins are on the "secret card" by asking verbal questions.
  
  
• The asker's GOAL is to narrow down which of the 27 cards in front of them matches the "secret card" possessed by the answerer.
  
  The asker treats the answerer as the character named on the answerer's card. The answerer will answer the asker's questions as if he or she is the actual character on the card.
  
  To collect information, the asker can use the sentence pattern "How many ____ cent coins do you have?" and systematically insert different numbers (10/20/50) into the blank in the sentence pattern.
  
  
• Based on the answerer's 'yes/no' answers, the asker can "eliminate" any cards that logically can't match the "secret card" held by the answerer. The best way to "eliminate" the non-matching cards, is to flip them over face-down. Then the asker can continue to ask more questions to further narrow down the remaining "face-up cards."
  
  
• Each round of the game continues until the asker has narrowed down the cards in front of them to just one card. They can then ask the answerer, "Do you have $_.__?" and insert the currency value total into the blank.
  
  i.e. "Do you have $2.30?" ("Do you have two dollars and thirty cents?")

For more detailed instructions for how to print, prepare, and introduce card-based deduction games like this one, click the blue button below.