How To Count Up Points At The End Of A Game

Some games are just win or lose, some games might have tracking point counters, but more and more games involve figuring out the total score at the very end of the game.

Each player will often have many tokens or cards in front of them, and will need to do a lot of math to figure out who actually just won the game they played.

This can be oddly difficult! The math is not hard, but it’s easy to lose track of things and to get distracted, and people end up having to double-check (or triple-check) their scores.

Here are the various ways I’ve seen people count their points

Just Count One-By-One

You can try just counting your points by counting everything in front of you, without re-organizing.

This is hard! Anytime someone tries to talk to you, you will likely need to restart. You will often lose your place. 1 + 4 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 1 +... it’s not easy.

If you insist on doing this, my main recommendation is to count out loud. You can do it under your breath, but so long as you are verbally doing something it helps your mind keep track.

Group Everything By Point Value

This is a very common technique. You put all your 1 point cards together, all your 2 point cards together... and then you just have to multiply some numbers together!

But you still have to hold some numbers in your head. 6 * 1-point cards + 7 * 2-point cards...

It’s definitely easier to count this way with some form of organization. But there's even a better way to do this...

Group Things into Equal Buckets

This is the best way. You try to build up packets of equal value, and then have a bit left over.

This transforms the game of counting up many things into counting only a couple packs. No more multiplication, and it becomes a bit of a little game to play yourself at the end.

This strategy is highly recommended.