What is Adsumudi? faq drop down arrow

Adsumudi is a math monster on a mission to make math fun with its namesake game.

To play, find the secret math path to Adsumudi’s answer on each card by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing the five other numbers. Keep the cards you figure out first and collect 5 to win!

Psst! Can you figure out how Adsumudi got its name? Hint: it has to do with ADdition, SUbtraction, MUltiplication, and DIvision!

With four different games to choose from (Adsumudi classic, Adsumudi Fun Ones, Adsumudi Little Ones, and Adsumudi Wild Ones), there's something for everyone! Different difficulty levels for mathematicians of varying abilities are built right into each card. And in addition to the main rules, there are multiple other ways to play each game with kids of all ages, including competitively, collaboratively, individually, and even online.

With its compact design and durable cards, Adsumudi is also the perfect math game for kids to take on the road, whether you’re traveling by car, plane, train, or boat!

From the makers of the award-winning math game, Proof!, Adsumudi has quickly become another favorite among parents and math teachers alike.

What's the age range? faq drop down arrow

Adsumudi can be played by kids and adults of all ages.

For practicing math facts, the classic Adsumudi math game is recommended for grade 3 and up (ages 9+). It's best suited for kids who are familiar with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. That said, we've seen math whizzes as young as 5 outplay their older siblings!

Adsumudi Fun Ones is recommended for ages 6+. It uses smaller numbers (only 1 - 12) and all challenges are solvable with just addition and subtraction, so it's both accessible to younger students, and also a fun, fast-paced challenge for older students. Multiplication and division are optional.

Adsumudi Little Ones is recommended for ages 4+. It uses small numbers (only 1 - 20), and involves fewer numbers when doing mental math (a maximum of 3 instead of 5). No knowledge of multiplication or division is required.

Adsumudi Wild Ones is recommended for ages 9+ Part of the deck has standard Adsumudi challenges, but some cards incorporate fractions, decimals, big numbers, and money, for a broader array of mental math challenges. Knowledge of multiplication and division is required for most challenges.

In each game, all cards have a star ranking at top indicating general difficulty level, where 1 star is the easiest and 3 stars is the hardest. So you can split up the deck for players of different abilities. In addition, each card has multiple math challenges ranging from easy to monstrously hard, so there’s something for everyone.

Adsumudi is the perfect complement to math worksheets and flashcards. We’ve been told it’s a monstrously fun way to master the “Operations and Algebraic Thinking” objectives from the Common Core State Standards.

How do you play? faq drop down arrow

A brief description of how to play the classic game can be found below. You can also find the full Adsumudi classic instructions, Adsumudi Fun Ones instructions, Adsumudi Little Ones instructions, and Adsumudi Wild Ones instructions online.

To play classic Adsumudi, each player first chooses their own difficulty level for the game. Adsumudi recommends that anyone who hasn’t played yet should start off on easy, then gradually move up to medium, then hard, then monstrously hard. Players in the same game don’t necessarily have to play at the same difficulty.

Get started by placing the entire stack of cards in the center of the table.

At the same time, all players focus on the top card and try to create Adsumudi’s answer (the number in the center) using the five other numbers on that card. Numbers can only be used once each in a given equation, but players can use any combination of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division they need.

If a player is playing on easy, they can use any two or more of the five numbers to make Adsumudi’s answer. If on medium, they have to use three or more. If on hard, they have to use any four or more. And if they’re playing on monstrously hard, they have to use all five numbers.

adsumudi instructions example card

For example: Pretend that the five numbers on a card are 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and Adsumudi’s answer is 6. If you’re playing on easy, you could come up with 1 + 5. Or on medium, you could use 4 x 3 ÷ 2. Or on hard, you could use 4 + 3 - 2 + 1. Or on monstrously hard, you could use (2 x 5 x 3) ÷ (1 + 4). Actually, all of these would be acceptable ways to make 6 for someone playing on easy since you have to use at least two numbers on easy, but you can always use more if you want. However, you couldn’t simply use 2 + 4 on medium because it doesn’t use at least three numbers, and you also couldn’t ever use 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 because it uses numbers more than once.

Once any player finds an equation that works for their difficulty level, they should shout “Adsumudi!”. Doing so pauses the game and gives that player a chance to prove that the math works. If it checks out, the player takes the card and keeps it. Everyone then continues playing with the next card on the top of the deck.

If a player’s math doesn’t check out, there’s no penalty. Play continues until someone gets it right. Or if all players agree that a given card is too hard, simply put it at the bottom of the deck and move on to the next card on top.

The first player to collect 5 cards wins! Or for a shorter game, play to 3!

Are there other ways to play? faq drop down arrow

Yes! Depending on what kind of mood your group is in, a few different ways to play are below. You can also find the variants specifically recommended for each game online in the Adsumudi classic instructions, Adsumudi Fun Ones instructions, Adsumudi Little Ones instructions, or Adsumudi Wild Ones instructions.

Collaborative
Instead of competing for each card, players can work together to find solutions. Simply choose easy, medium, hard, or monstrously hard, then see how many cards you can get through as a team!

Around the World
Similar to the Collaborative version, Around the World has players working together to find solutions to all difficulty levels on a given card before moving on. Start by finding the easy solution, then medium, then hard, then monstrously hard. Don’t give up and feel free to grab a hint if you need. It’ll be satisfying to get them all!

Minute to Win It
Give all players pencil and paper, flip over a card, and start a 1-minute timer (or longer if preferred). Before time runs out, all players write down as many easy, medium, hard, or monstrously hard equations as they can find. When time runs out, players share their answers and get 1 point per number used in a valid equation. For example, if the target is 10 and a player finds 2 × 5 and 20 − 8 − 2, she gets 2 points for the first equation and 3 points for the second. Whoever has the most points in a given round wins the card. After 3 or 5 rounds, whoever has the most cards wins!

Online Solo
Can’t get enough Adsumudi? Play online with endless, new Adsumudi challenges. Click or tap the numbers on the cards to show your work and Adsumudi will tell you if you’re right!

Can I play online? faq drop down arrow

Absolutely.

Ditch the math worksheets for today, and play the Adsumudi math game online for free with endless, new challenges. Click or tap the numbers on the cards to show your work and Adsumudi will tell you if you’re right! Depending on your mood, you can either play in Classic mode or Fun Ones mode.

The online game also has helpful hints and solutions if Adsumudi has you stumped.

How many cards are there? faq drop down arrow

All Adsumudi math games include 52 durable, double-sided cards. With Adsumudi classic, Adsumudi Fun Ones, and Adsumudi Wild Ones, each side of each card contains 4 different math challenges of increasing complexity (easy, medium, hard, and monstrously hard). That makes for 416 unique challenges in each box! With Adsumudi Little Ones, each side contains 2 different math challenges (easy and hard) for 208 challenges in each box.

Who makes it? faq drop down arrow

Adsumudi is made by Evermade. Founded in 2016 by Shaun and Lauren Salzberg, Evermade creates, manufactures, and sells award-winning smart games and puzzle books for kids and adults.

Evermade makes math games such as Proof! and Adsumudi, word games such as Snippets, and The Master Theorem puzzle book.

Our team is always hard at work creating new family-friendly games. You can sign up for our newsletter or follow us on Instagram to stay up-to-date on new announcements.

All games are available worldwide and proudly made in the USA.

Where can I buy it? faq drop down arrow

Adsumudi is made by Evermade. You can buy any of our games online. Shipping is always free. You can also find Adsumudi on Amazon, of course.

If you prefer to shop in person, you can find our games in over 100 stores around the world! We support independent game and toy stores and encourage you to shop locally whenever possible. If you would like a list of the stores closest to you, please contact us.

Do you have any tips? faq drop down arrow

Yes! Use these helpful tips below to become an Adsumudi master! Tips more specific to each game can also be found online in the Adsumudi classic instructions, Adsumudi Fun Ones instructions, Adsumudi Little Ones instructions, or Adsumudi Wild Ones instructions.

Tip #1: Work backwards!
New players often try to make Adsumudi’s answer by randomly combining the other numbers until they find something that works. But that takes a long time! Instead, try to work backwards from Adsumudi’s answer. For example, let’s say you were looking for the monstrously hard solution to a card where Adsumudi’s answer is 15 and the other numbers are 13, 10, 2, 9, and 3. Here’s a smart way to do it:

First, pick any one of the five numbers, say 13, and realize that to get from 13 to 15, you’ll need a 2 (by doing 13 + 2). So now all you have to do is make a 2 from the remaining four numbers 10, 2, 9, and 3.

To do this, again pick one of those four numbers, say 10, and realize that to get to 2 from 10, you’ll need either a 5 (by doing 10 ÷ 5), a 12 (by doing 12 − 10), or an 8 (by doing 10 − 8). Let’s go with 5. So now all you have to do is make a 5 from the remaining three numbers 2, 9, and 3.

Keep going with this strategy and you’ll realize that 9 ÷ 3 + 2 is 5. So by working backwards we just found that our monstrous solution is 13 + (10 ÷ (9 ÷ 3 + 2))! Brilliant!

Tip #2: Make 1’s!
Ones are useful mathematical tools! Multiply anything by 1 and you’re left with the same thing. Add or subtract 1 from a number to get something else that’s close. So try making 1’s where you can by dividing a number by itself or subtracting two numbers that are one apart. For example, imagine a card where Adsumudi’s answer is 3 and the other numbers are 9, 6, 18, 4, and 14. You can easily make 3 on easy mode with 9 − 6. But monstrously hard seems, well, monstrously hard! That is, until you realize you can make a 1 with 18 ÷ (14 + 4). Then all you have to do is (9 − 6) × (18 ÷ (14 + 4)) and suddenly you’ve wow’ed all your friends!

Tip #3: Split the deck!
Each card displays 1, 2, or 3 white stars at top. These indicate the card’s general difficulty level, where 1 star is the easiest and 3 stars is the hardest. If desired, you can use these to split the deck up for players of different mathematical abilities.

Tip #4: Get hints and solutions!
Stuck on a monstrous card? Get help here. It’ll give you step by step hints for any card and even show you full solutions if needed.