How to Play the Game of 24

A popular Chinese game for development of mental math skills

In its analog variant, the game is played with a standard deck of playing cards with picture cards and jokers removed, leaving just 40 cards:  the numbers from 1 (ace) to 10 in each suit.  Four cards are dealt in each round and the objective is to combine the four numbers using common mathematical operations to get a result of 24.  For example, if the four cards were: 2, 3, 6 and 9, a possible solution could be: 6 + 2 = 8, 9 / 3 = 3; 8 * 3 = 24.  Learn more on Pagat.

We made this digital variant to make the game available on mobile devices.  This free version allows unlimited game play by a single player.  In the default play mode, the cards are dealt by the server, which ensures that every hand has a viable solution.  You can switch to an off-line mode by de-selecting the appropriate checkbox in the settings.  This is useful if you wish to play without an internet connection, but it comes with an expected downside—the cards are dealt by a random number generator inside your browser, so not every hand dealt will have a viable solution.  To minimize server traffic, the timers and the score are maintained as variables within your browser and reset every time you reload the page. 

The interface is intuitive, but here is a brief overview for reference.  You press the Deal Cards button to start a hand. To add pressure, we give you a 5 minute time limit.  Once you come up with a solution, you press the Got It button, which freezes the state of the solution timer used later for calculating the average time in your score.  You then explain your solution to get a score.  To encourage fair play, we will only give a score for the solutions explained within another (shorter) time limit.  Both time limits can be adjusted by expanding the Customize game settings link near the top of the play page.  A new hand is always triggered by the Deal Cards button.  This lets you start a new round at any point without waiting for the timers to elapse, or lets you leave the game dormant to take a break from playing and continue later.  If you are taking a break, be sure to keep the page open, your score will reset otherwise.