Semper Smart Games Blobby's Pizza Math Card Crazy Fun Strategic Pizza Eating Contest Between Cute Monsters!

A year ago, I picked out this game at a homeschool convention - the "free" item in a buy-a game-get-a lesser-one-free deal. The seller offered to swap products and let me buy this in exchange for the (slightly) more expensive game in exchange for a review. I agreed, but hesitantly wondered whether my kids would actually enjoy it. As it turns out, it took some time but this is now my 6-year old's favorite math game - he loves the theme (making pizzas via fractions and using monsters to steal fractions of other players pizzas) and doesn't realize how much math he's absorbing in the process. The game is well-scaled, allowing young kids to practice basic math (how much does each complete pizza cost?) while providing older students the more complex experience of calculating the impact of taxes and tips on each order. Highly recommended for ages 6-10.

Another great game from Semper Smart Games! As a math tutor, I’m always looking for math games to get otherwise reluctant math students to engage with math concepts in a fun and low risk way. Blobby’s pizza delivers! First off, the game is well made, beautiful, and funny – the quality of the game is itself a hook into getting kids interested (and who doesn’t like pizza? And monsters? And monsters who steal pizza?). My students were initially skeptical because it *felt* like there were a lot of rules and that it was “complicated” but as soon as they started playing they realized that game is just: make as many whole pizzas from pizza slices as you can and steal slices from your opponents. Once they played a second time, they started to get strategic – which is novel in fraction games; there are other fraction games out there but none include much strategic thinking: do I keep the slices in my hand (aka on my “plate”) so that no one can steal them or should I put them down in front of me (aka on the “table”) so I can pick up more cards – which makes this game special and much richer. The game also has range – the tax and tip cards bring in percentage calculations, the sums at the end are decimal addition. After just two games, the kids became interested in the tax and tip cards; the game gets richer with each play. Unprompted, several students mentioned that they loved this game. Whether they said it allowed or not, they rushed to tutoring knowing that they were going to play this game. Note: my students have played in groups of 4, 5, and 6. The pace of the game worked best with 4. It can also work one on one, but it is less fun as there is only one person to steal from. An earlier reviewer mentioned a lack of diversity of cards to make pizzas, but in my observations of game play, I have not seen that to be the case or an issue. The order pad, dedicated pencils, and the quality of the box (it has very satisfying magnets) all add to the fun of the game. The only thing I would change: the cards have one rounded edge – which makes them look cool, but they are harder to shuffle. The free download that includes instructions for three more games is definitely a plus. Note: After purchasing a SemperSmart game (Election Night!), and seeing how popular that game was among my students, I bought this game. Then I wrote the company. They have asked me to share my review here and they have donated a copy of Blobby’s Pizza to my school – but the original purchase was all mine.

As a 6th/7th grade math teacher and a math tutor for upper elementary through algebra, I am always looking for new ways to engage struggling and reluctant mathematicians. This game does it! It is a silly and engaging game that has many different elements that I appreciate. There are fraction and decimal equivalences listed on each card to reinforce those skills. Pizza cards are color coded to show if they can be simplified which is helpful when working on equivalent fraction values. I also like that the pizza cards are shaded to helps kids easily see if they are making combinations to be less than, greater than, or equal to 1 whole. The pizza stealing monster cards upped the ante and made students think critically and strategically about the moves they made. I used this game in math small groups during class and in tutoring sessions with a student who needed a confidence boost. Two thumbs up from each kiddo along with many laughs and requests to play again. I will say to anyone interested in this game- watch the game play video! There are a lot of elements to this game that work well together when you get the hang of it, but can be a little intimidating at first. Shuffle well the first time you play to get a better representation of the cards throughout game play and get ready to make as many pizzas as you can!

I held of writing this review for a few weeks because I wanted plenty of time to try it out. I'm a math teacher by profession. When I saw this game at an NCTM conference it caught my eye and had to try it out. Here's my overview: Clever: This is a clever game. Some serious thought went into the rules. Engaging: A game is supposed to last a half hour. So far this has been a little shortsighted. This game takes a bit longer but it maintains my kids' interest. We keep playing it. Instructions: The instructions lack a little clarity. In addition to reading through them myself and keeping them close to me through a couple of games, I also handed them over to my genius son who deciphers game instructions with the skill of a codebreaker. Once you get the instructions down though, the game is easily playable. Math: Each card contains multiple representations of the fractions listed: fraction, decimal, pie graph (pizza). I was a bit concerned that the presence of so many representations would take the thinking out of the game. There is a bit of a balancing act here. I think that each card does not need to be so explicit, BUT there are still plenty of opportunities to reason with fraction operations.

I met the creator, Jim Moran, at this years NCTM conference in Chicago. The game seemed interesting and fun, so I picked it up. I finally got to the fraction unit and my class (3rd grade) loves this game. I helps them stretch their equivalent fraction knowledge while also working on strategie building. I have been able to use this for independent stations as well as a more structured small group with follow-up questions. I highly suggest watching the instruction video before hand. It made getting started a whole lot easier. I have not introduced the "Tax and Tip" aspect yet, but my students are excited. Since it's 3rd grade, I will most likely try it as an extension group first. The game is easy to modify for the needs of each of your students.