The Idea

Base X is a game invented after seeing my daughters come home from school with these matrices of numbers to fill in to help them learn their multiples. I had the idea to make a game that would make learning this concept faster, but as I thought more about it I realized that if you extended it beyond base ten it would be challenging for adults as well.

I drew out a grid using office software for a ten by ten table and taped over a set of scrabble tiles with numbers. The rules kind of wrote themselves in terms of the adjacency and the order of play but after a couple of rounds with friends I realized that there needed to be some kind of “game play” to make it more fun. The idea of using (and teaching) prime numbers along with the doubles, corners was easy enough to add in.

When it came time to do the graphics for board and tiles, I came up with the idea of reversible numbers that could be played either direction. This seemed like a fun addition. It actually took me several weeks to find the term for it – strobogramatic. The irony is that there weren’t any standard strobogramatic fonts; so I had to go and make one. Yep so not only did I have to make a font but I even patented it.

A lot went into making the boards and I worked with a great (and patient) graphic designer. I knew I wanted to have levels of play that were easier and harder than standard play. I wanted a colorful board for kids that both had a version with all the numbers written in as well as a version with them left off so they could progress. The idea of using more than just a ten by ten grid was always a part of what I wanted to do so we made a twelve by twelve and sixteen by sixteen grid. The idea of creating a smaller “travel” edition with an eight by eight grid combined two fun ideas. It took quite a few versions but I am really proud of how they came out.

The gambling concept came out of the initial games where I realized how much probability was built into the game and strategy. It was easy to take traditional gambling games and substitute tiles for cards, either betting out of your hand poker style or out of the deck hold ‘em style. Of course with the gambling approach we wanted to make the game play optional – easy enough to add back in. Of course you’ll need your own chips.

If you want to read the rules check them out here

If you want to see some of my strategy suggestions check them out here

And finally of course I had to put in a requisite FAQ section, that’s here