It’s Tax Day today.

I know, that’s not the most joyful subject to choose for a puzzle and games blog.

But you might be surprised to learn there’s a game out there inspired by Tax Day.

It’s called The Taxman Game, but it’s also known by the names Tax Factor, Number Shark, The Factor Game, Factor Blast, Factor Blaster, or Dr. Factor. Phew! What a list.

It was created by mathematician Diane Resek in the late 1960s or early 1970s. It’s designed to help students practice their division and factorial skills.

In the single-player version of the game, you’re dealing with the taxman (played by the computer), while you play the tax payer.

Your goal is to choose a number, but the tax you pay is any remaining factors on the board. So, with the example board above, if you chose 18, you’d get 18 points. But the taxman would take 1, 2, 3, 6, and 9 (since 1×18, 2×9, and 3×6 all make 18).

With those numbers gone, you can only choose from numbers with factors remaining on the board. You pick, and again, the computer taxes you by claiming any factors remaining.

This continues until there are no legal moves left. When that happens, the taxman collects ALL of the remaining numbers on the board.

(There’s a two player version as well, where players alternate turns as the taxpayer and the taxman.)

Here was my attempt:

I chose 19 first, because it was the highest value prime number. The taxman only gets 1 as a tax.

I chose 10 next, since the taxman could only collect 2 and 5 from the board, which were lower numbers compared to my other options.

Next I chose 20, because with 10, 2, and 5 off the board, the taxman would only collect 4 points.

That put me at 49 to the taxman’s 12. Pretty good so far.

I chose 9 next, because 3 was the only option for the taxman.

Then I chose 18, because 1, 2, 9, and 3 were all off the table, so the taxman only got 6.

I chose 16 next, giving the taxman 8, then closed my choices with 14, giving the taxman 7.

My final score was 106 to the taxman’s 36.

Until that final rule kicked in.

All the unclaimed numbers went to the taxman. That’s 11, 12, 13, 15, and 17. 68 points!

So the final tally was 106 to 104. I BARELY edged out the taxman.

And that was my best effort!

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As challenging as the game was, I really enjoyed it. It taxed my observational and math skills to keep ALL the factors in mind when selecting numbers, and trying to be strategic about the order in which I chose numbers.

And yeah, I’d still rather play this than do my taxes. What about you, fellow puzzler?