License Plate Number Game

When I was a kid and my dad would take us on road trips up to Karuizawa, my brother and I played the license plate number game. The rules are simple: Using basic math, make the four digits on the license plate equal 10.

In this case, you could do:

1+2+3+4=10

or

1x2x3+4=10

or

2x4+(3-1)=10

and so on.

Did anyone else play this game? Is it just in Japan or worldwide?

Comments

[Brian W]

Somewhat different here in the states. Seems the most common "License plate game" involves seeing who can spot a license plate from each state. Winner = most states

I imagine any kids from the U.S. who were forced to do math while traveling would outright jump out of the vehicle.

[puri]

I played the same game in Thailand, but used bus ticket number instead. There are 6 or 7 numbers in a ticket; the first 5 are input digits and the last 1 or 2 are result.

My friends and I were so into this kind of game that we played it by taking turn picking random numbers and allowed some extensive rules such as square root (which can eliminate number easily by squaring immediate result and taking square root).

FYI, there was a TV game show featuring such game in Thailand too.

[o0bev0o]

I remember playing a game like that in middle school here in the US, but not with license plates. It's called 24 and you get four cards with numbers and would have to do any math to make it = 24

ex:

3 7 6 2

2 x 7 = 14 - 6 = 8 x 3 = 24