Ask Ollie
The Last Piece Loses
Here's one to try together!
Ollie bets you can't dodge the last piece. Can you crack the secret pattern?
Reviewed by our team.
Safety first
- coins, buttons and pasta pieces are a choking risk for little siblings
What you need
- Paper, 1 sheet for scoring (optional)
- Crayons or markers, 1 (optional)
- Coins, buttons or dry pasta, 15 pieces
How to do it
Grown-up prep: Choking risk: coins, buttons and dry pasta are small. Keep them away from little siblings and play at a table they can't reach.
- Put all 15 pieces in one pile between you.
- Learn the rule: the player who takes the last piece loses.
- Decide who goes first and play your first round.
- Play four more rounds and keep score on paper.
- Look for a pattern in how the games ended. Ask: What do you notice about the number of pieces left just before someone lost?
- Try to leave your opponent with 13, then 9, then 5, then 1. Ask: What do you think happens if you always leave one more than a multiple of four?
- Play again using the secret pattern and see what happens.
- Change the rules and hunt for the new winning pattern. Share it with a friend! Ask: What new rule will you try, and how will you find its secret?
Play it again
- Bigger pile: start with 21 or 30 pieces and find the new safe numbers.
- Take up to four: change the limit and work out the new pattern.
- Teach a friend: explain the secret, then see if they can beat you.
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