Creative Dad CompanyCreative Dad Company
MathTechnology

Arcade Economy Audit

Log in to save
Grades 6-860-75 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Teams analyze a simple arcade-style game's odds and payouts, calculating whether it's actually fair to players or quietly stacked in the house's favor.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • kitchen scaleBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • meter stickBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • stopwatchBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

About $4.96 (estimate, some items still being priced) per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

  • Rubber bandsRequired10.5 lb assorted$4.96Amazon
  • balls of different massesRequired1price not confirmed

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

About $4.96 (estimate, some items still being priced) per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Student time: 30 min, one class periodTeacher prep / build-ahead: 15 min$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.One table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or hand-copy the essential prompt for Arcade Economy Audit, then set out only paper, pencils, and the common or recycled items needed for one test. Use a tabletop representation whenever the original version mentions a room, specialized device, or digital tool; the learning comes from the decisions and evidence, not elaborate scenery.

Activity

  1. Play a sample arcade-style game several times and predict the true odds of winning based on the rules.
  2. Calculate the theoretical payout rate and compare it to what the game actually pays out in tickets or prizes.
  3. Run more trials, find the real results don't match the predicted odds, and investigate what rule or bias explains the gap.
  4. Present an audit report rating the game's fairness and recommending a change to its payout structure.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

Done when: The group has completed Arcade Economy Audit when it can present an audit report rating the game's fairness and recommending a change to its payout structure and point to the observation, measurement, comparison, or trial that supports its conclusion.

Materials

dice, playing cards, small prize tokens, calculator, notebook, poster board; Rubber bands; balls of different masses; kitchen scale; meter stick; stopwatch

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Steps

  1. Play a cardboard skee-ball or ramp-launch game where players and the 'house' use different balls (for example a ping pong ball, a golf ball and a clay-weighted ball). Predict whether the ball you get or how hard you launch matters more for scoring.
  2. Build a fair launcher: a rubber band stretched across a cardboard frame, with marked pull-back distances of 2, 4 and 6 cm so the push force can be set and repeated.
  3. Plan the investigation as a team: name the variable you change (force or mass), the variable you measure (distance rolled or time to reach the target line), and the variables you keep the same (surface, ramp angle, launch spot). Plan at least 3 trials per setting.
  4. Test 1: keep the mass the same and change the launch force. Record distance or speed for each pull-back. Test 2: keep the force the same and change the ball's mass (measure each ball on a kitchen scale). Record results in a data table.
  5. Draw a force diagram for the ball showing the launch push and friction, and explain how the total (sum) of forces affects its change in motion.
  6. Graph the results and write a claim, with evidence, about how force and mass each change the ball's motion.
  7. Use your evidence to audit the game: if players and the house get different ball masses or launch settings, explain who has the advantage and recommend a rule change that makes it fair.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-PS2-2

    Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.