Welcome to February’s blog.

I’m dedicating this blog to last month’s Bett show in London and a favourite strategy game of mine, Kamisado

Bett highlights

Bett is the biggest show in edtech. It’s a three day conference and exhibition held in London, bringing together educators, policy makers and industry leaders in technology, showcasing the future of education around the world. Bett London is followed by Bett Brasil and Bett Asia later in the year.

Check out some of my favourite moments from Bett:

https://uk.bettshow.com/

Why do I visit?

There are two reasons I visit.

1 To be inspired

2 To network

The 1st Bett Show I ever attended was a few years ago, in the days of being a technophobe. 🫢 Yes you heard me, that’s quite a confession but it speaks volumes. Here I am now, a woman in edtech!

That shows how much I love LogiqBoard and teaching games on this perfect platform. ❤️

I’m not a budget holder, in charge of computing or school finances so why do I go? I like going because it inspires me.

At Bett you get to see stand after stand of entrepreneurs and creatives showcasing their dreams. There is also a stage with key speakers and smaller interactive sessions.

I choose to wander alone with just my thoughts and stop if something catches my eye. It’s wonderful to hear creation stories, how an idea developed and grew into something real. There’s a hint of sacrifice and vulnerability when I hear these stories.

Stem learning

Stem learning is at the heart of Bett. Stem stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics but I also believe that chess in education and art belong here somewhere. Critical thinking and creative thinking are part of Stem learning. What do you think? Which subjects fall under the umbrella of Stem?

Visiting Bett, gives me a glimpse of the future of education. Robotics, online learning platforms, how the curriculum might change for our children. What are the skills we need to develop in the next generation? What will be the the teacher’s role in the future?

My favourite Bett memory.

The first time I went was in 2023. It was amazing, mindblowing even overwhelming! I found solace at one particular stand. A board game stand where I discovered my favourite strategic game, Kamisado and it’s designer Peter Burley.

Peter Burley is an English games designer. He showed me how to play Kamisado aswell as his fabulous multiplication game called Take it Easy. Both games great for primary school children and older. The game was designed in 2008.

It’s part of my board game list and a great ‘brain break’ game in my maths tutoring sessions.

Peter Burley at Bett 2023, London

What is Kamisado?

Kamisado is an abstract strategy game played on an 8×8 coloured board. Each player has eight dragon towers in a a line on their side of the board, this is the home row.

Aim of the game: to be the first to get an octagonal dragon tower to the other side of the board.

How to play: The towers move forwards in straight lines or diagonally forwards. The towers cannot capture, jump, move horizontally or backwards.

Black (the challenger) moves first and chooses which tower to move. Black moves forwards straight or diagonally forwards and lands where it chooses.

From this point onwards, each player moves the dragon tower that matches the colour of the square their opponent just landed on. (Top tip, with young students I ask them to say the colour they land on so their partner knows which tower to move next.)

How to win: reach your opponent’s home row with one of your towers and you’ve won! Place a gem inside the winning tower and get ready for another round.

Note: If it’s your turn and your tower is blocked in, the colour you’re actually on is the colour of your opponent’s next piece. I tell my young students they’ve jumped on the same square because there’s no where else to go!

Kamisado, a game at the Mind Sports Olympiad in London 🇬🇧

I’ve described the single round version but there are more layers for serious players. Kamisado also features at the Mind Sports Olympiad every year. 🔥

Play Kamisado on logiqboard.com

We have this beautiful game on LogiqBoard but I also urge you to buy the real thing. There’s something so beautiful about the board design and something very satisfying about the chunky pieces and little gems.

Why play Kamisado in schools?

⚫️ easy to learn

⚫️ fun to play

⚫️ students plan ahead

⚫️ visualise moves 👀

⚫️ think strategically

⚫️ first steps in seeing one or two moves ahead

⚫️ can be taught in one session

⚫️ interesting game design

I see Kamisado as a warm up for chess. For me, its like a little teacher assessment into a child’s thinking. Can they focus on their own goal of reaching the other side and play strategically? For example, you don’t want to land on a colour where your opponent wins in the next move!

Can students figure out which colour they should land on so their partner doesn’t reach the other side? Can they plan a few moves ahead? Can they spot the better move so their partner has limited moves or moves a tower which isn’t close to winning? Can they find the quickest moves to win?

Origins story

My students love hearing about the people I meet. Peter Burley inspires them. Not only because he’s from England but he’s also designed another game on multiplication facts. They get to see into the mind of a games designer.

And when I share the Mind Sports Olympiad they’re totally hooked into the world of games. Adults play games too! Yes they do… 💸

Another Talk Task for the primary classroom

And what about this term ‘Mind Sports’, this topic makes a a lovely talk task for my last blog. ‘Strategy games should be included as a sport, do you agree or disagree?’

Or maybe you could give this talk task to pairs, partner A has to agree and partner B disagrees and has to formulate arguments against. Exploring discussion skills, perspectives and justifying beliefs.

Creativity in Game Design

We can also explore Peter Burley’s creativity and inclusive game design.

Look closely at the real board you’ll see that on each of the black or white towers are the symbols of colours. Flip the real board over and each square has the symbol for each colour too. You can play on either side. You could explore how this game is inclusive for those who are colour blind. Does the design achieve this? What do they think?

Making Connections

Don’t forget to link to a map of the world or compare the movement of the towers to chess pieces. Were we right to link the towers to chess queens on LogiqBoard? Why?

Language Links

Link to Japanese symbols. Link to mathematical vocabulary when you explore the movement of the pieces.

Problem Solving Skills

Let’s not forget problem solving tasks and puzzles on LogiqBoard.

🔎 Exploring moves:

Look at the highlighted square. It’s black to move (Player A). They have to move the tower on d6.

Can you find the losing move for black?

Can you find the winning move?

Other tasks/ questions to explore:

🔎 Does the first player (black) have an advantage in Kamisado?

🔎 If optimal moves are made, how many moves does it take black to win?

Final words

I ❤️ this game and I’m yet to find another game so perfect for my primary school students. Simple moves but you can think strategically and dig deeper. If you have anything to add about this game or you’re a competitive Kamisado player do get in touch and share your expertise.

I didn’t see Peter Burley last month. I also didn’t see the chessy people (top chess organisations used to be there too 🤫)

In my next blog I’ll share who I visit Bett for and some other key moments.

Your homework this month is to play Kamisado. Click below to buy:

https://www.burleygames.com/

Peter Burley gifted Kamisado to me that day (before I worked for LogiqBoard!).

I bought the maths game Take It Easy and was also gifted Race to Infinity by his fellow designers at the stand. I was the only one walking around with a pile of board games and I loved it.

I remember the words night warrior in our chat as we played. Although it’s not a translation of the word Kamisado it somehow feels right for this game.

You’ll find this game in our strategy games list or click below to play:

https://logiqboard.com/boards/clone/wZLt94_Edw

I’ll leave you with a question, If you could be a strategy game for a day which game would you be?

I know my answer…

happy gaming,

Hari the night warrior x ♛🌙