Do your kids need to work on numbers up to 100? Zeus on the Loose may be the perfect game for you, as it’s as fun as it is educational!
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you click on it and make a purchase I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, please check our Privacy Policy and Disclaimers and Disclosures.
How to play Zeus on the Loose
In playing Zeus on the Loose, every person gets four cards. On your turn, you play one card, then draw back up to four cards in your hand. Most of the cards are numbers 1-10. The rest of the cards are different Greek deities, each with a special power. When you play a card, you calculate the new total (either add the new number onto the old total, or do whatever the deity card tells you to). Every time the total is a multiple of 10, whoever got the total there claims Zeus (a figurine)!
Deities and their powers
The different gods and goddesses included are Poseidon, Aphrodite, Eres, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Hermes, and Hera. Aphrodite causes you to round to the nearest multiple of 10 (both rounding practice and learning multiples of 10!). Apollo and Artemis keep the number the same, but allow you to steal Zeus, whatever the number is. Ares changes the number to 50, and you steal Zeus. Athena causes the next player to be skipped. Hermes reverses the digits on the number (e.g., 73 becomes 37). Poseidon subtracts 10 from the number and you steal Zeus. And finally, Hera causes the number to go to 99, and you steal Zeus.
How to win Zeus on the Loose
The goal is to finish with Zeus. Whoever has Zeus when the number either gets to 100, or goes over 100, wins. However, it’s a lot of fun to steal Zeus throughout the game!
Some modifications we’ve done have included using a 100’s chart and using a giant Pop-It (like a 100’s chart, but more fun). We’ve also just written the number down after each turn, though that gets really old fast.
If you want to practice subtraction, you can start at 100 and go down to 0.
