PatGames

Equipment: none
Players: any

RULES
If you are one of those commuters who can’t help but look at every license plate that passes you on the freeway, then this game is for you.

Everyone playing Number Race starts off by looking for a plate that either begins or ends with a 1. When you do so, yell out “1” and point at the car you saw it on. No one else can use that car anymore.

Anyone who has called out 1 gets to move on to 2. But here’s the catch… you have to stay on the same side of the license plate as the number 1 was. In other words, if you picked a car with “1ABC234”, then you will have to find a plate that STARTS with a 2.

The only way to use a number on the opposite end of the plate is to call “Double.” You can switch sides anytime you see a license plate that starts and ends with the same number – a “Double.” Note: the Double does NOT have to be the number you are looking for. For example: if you are looking for a plate that ends with 3 and you find a plate that reads “2XYZ992”, you can call Double and then start looking for plates that START with 3.

First person to get to 0 wins. (For this game, 0 comes after 9).

STRATEGY
You will no doubt realize quickly that there are a lot of license plates that start with 3, 4 or 5; a decent number that start with 1 or 2, and almost no plates (in California) that start with any other number. Using this fact, you can get up to 5 quickly by starting your search looking for a plate BEGINNING with 1, but after 5 you will need to switch over to ending numbers as soon as possible. Sometimes, it pays to start your search with ending numbers.