Mind Games

Colonel Blotto

Grades 5+ · whole-class + solo

Secretly split 100 soldiers across 5 fronts — then your plan battles EVERY classmate's plan at once. More soldiers takes a front; more fronts takes the battle. The catch: NO SAFE PLAN EXISTS. Even splits lose to concentration, concentration loses to spread-and-feint — and the round's champion plan is shown to the whole class, where it never wins twice. Solo Boot Camp + live class rooms.

For Educators

Built for the classroom

Mixed strategies, discovered by necessity — the deepest idea in game theory made playable. Students learn that every fixed plan has a counter (the Dojo's Plan Lab lets them hunt for an unbeatable one and fail productively), then watch it live: each round's champion plan is revealed to everyone and promptly dies the next round. The only protection is unpredictability. Also trains allocation arithmetic, opponent modeling, and reading distributions (the anonymous plan gallery). Named after Borel's 1921 Colonel Blotto — one of the first games mathematics ever analyzed.

Grades 5+ · fronts: 3 (quick reads), 5 (the classic), or 7 (wilder feints); scoring: every-front-equal or WEIGHTED (front k worth k points — value vs count become rival plans); 100 soldiers each; 3–7 rounds.

Three ways to play

Boot Camp (solo)

Five rounds against five bot generals. One of them, Copycat, always plays last round's champion plan — watch its career closely.
Host a Room

Open a room on the projector; a 4-letter code + QR + join link appear. Every reveal shows the anonymous plan gallery and crowns the champion — whose plan is now public.
Join on any device

Students enter the code, split their soldiers with steppers, and can change their plan until the reveal. Scores are private; only champions are named.

Run a live class in 5 steps

Open the Room — pick 3/5/7 fronts, equal or weighted scoring, and the number of rounds.
Share the 4-letter code / QR / link; students join on any device.
Each round: everyone secretly allocates 100 soldiers; names light up as plans lock in (plans stay hidden).
The reveal computes every pairwise battle, shows the anonymous gallery, and crowns the champion — plan and all.
After round 3, ask the room: has any plan won twice? Why not? The campaign screen finishes the thought.

Tip: host on a laptop or projector (the big screen shows the code, QR and leaderboard); students join on their phones or laptops.