As a former math teacher and a current homeschool teaching dad of three children, this game is outstanding! For anyone with a solid algebra background, it's easy to see the underlying math concepts from the earliest moments in the game. For everyone else, you just learn to play the game even though you may be unaware that you are balancing an algebraic equation each time. You just need to substitute numbers and variables in for the characters and there you have it. Brilliant! My children ages 8, 9 and 11 love it.