Consumer math is kind of a hot topic. So many adults don’t understand how to properly calculate a tip or sales tax, let alone discounts; we rely on whatever the cashier tells us we owe. Yet, we want better for our kids. We want them to understand what’s going on with their money. Discount is a great game for teaching consumer math, as well as relating fractions to percentages.
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I bought Discount when I realized we didn’t have a game for working with percentages. Actually, I bought it when I realized my kids had no idea what a percentage was. They were still young, but I feel it’s important for my kids to have at least some familiarity with all sorts of different mathematical concepts.
Discount is really geared more for middle school levels, so we haven’t played it a ton. When we played it, I had them use either a calculator or our Alexa device to do the actual math.
How to play Discount
Most spots on the board either have a percentage or a fraction off, but there are two different forks in the path, allowing you to choose which route you’ll take. By comparing the different locations, you can choose the best path to take.
The goal of Discount is to save the most money, but each turn, players have the option of whether or not to make a purchase. However, not making any purchases (so therefore not spending any money), doesn’t allow any money to be saved. The game is over when one player runs out of money.
Learning about money
I love that throughout the game, a financial record is kept. The regular price, % discount, amount saved, and sale price are recorded for each purchased item.
Finally, play money is used, too, so players need to make sure they have enough money for their purchases and calculate change correctly. The learning possibilities with this game are really broad. Play money bills go down to $1, so it’s possible to be reasonably accurate, leaving out only coins.
Overall, I highly recommend Discount if you are looking for another game to learn about money, fractions, and percentages. I feel the consumer math reinforced by Discount is really important for the average person. However, if you’re looking for a fun game to decompress or spend date night with your honey, this might not fit the bill.