I knew the world needed another fractions game because:

• Auntie Pasta‘s is consistently my most-viewed game review
• Auntie Pasta’s is consistently my most-viewed YouTube video
• Auntie Pasta’s is out of print
• I get questions about teaching fractions to older kids all the time, but Auntie Pasta’s is really best for younger kids

You and your friends have been asked to help out at your grandpa’s pizza parlor. Work together or independently to build pizzas as fast as you can to help him stay in business!

Included in every copy are also instructions for a “lunch rush” game.

I hope to be able to schedule a crowd-funding campaign (either through Kickstarter or Gamecraft’s own version, or both), but in the meantime, Pizza Parlor is live!

I am so excited to bring this game to life and share it with the world! I hope that Pizza Parlor can help everyone gain more comfort and facility with fractions.

When I first received my copy of the game, I was dismayed at how very light the box was. This thing has 49 pizza slices, 6 pizza pans, and 3 dice. Shouldn’t it weigh more? When I opened the box, I realized why it was so light. The material the custom cardstock punch-outs are made from is very thin. I mean, I knew it would be, but I guess in my mind I was still wanting much more durable pieces.

Because the cardstock is so thin, there is a LOT of wasted space in this box. I hate that. In fact, it’s one of my biggest pet peeves, so I created an option that allows you to buy the pieces without the box. They do come in a resealable bag that you can use instead, if you want. You’ll just have to be very careful that the pieces don’t get bent. Remember, they’re thin.

My kids were really excited to sit down and play the game. Unfortunately, early on, my son rolled to multiply one of his pieces by ¼. We haven’t done much formal math, and almost none with fractions, so his confusion is understandable. He’d gotten it into his head that when you multiply something, you end up with a bigger number. Well, the fact that he ended up with less pizza on his pan was a huge turn-off for him!

However, this is precisely the reason I made Pizza Parlor. Like I told my son, I didn’t design it as a super fun game that we’re likely to pull out just for fun (well, except for me, because I’m weird like that).

My daughter (who rolled almost exclusively addition), loved the game. I think she was mostly just excited for me, but I’ll take the win. Despite the pieces being thinner than I’d prefer, it is still playable as it is.

When we tried the “Advanced Fractions” rules, where you multiply or divide by your entire pizza, not just one slice, my husband did end up with 6 pizzas before we called it quits (and he was going for just 1 pizza). However, that hadn’t happened to me during play-testing, so I don’t think it’s an overly common occurrence. It sure did lead to lots of laughs, though!