Imagine early humans first using math. Before any type of calculation could
happen, humans needed to invent the concept of counting. The earliest form of counting was probably the repeated use of one. It may have been picture-based that represented something. For example, a repeating picture of a bison head would mean that each picture of the bison head represented an actual living, breathing bison that the early human was observing. Using symbols would be a gigantic leap forward in cognition and information processing. The symbols aided in math and counting and may have also served as the first kind of written language. The picture represented the number of animals and the animal itself.
However, drawing a small bison head would take time (and artistic ability). What if something else could be used to represent the number of bison being counted that was faster and simpler? Going from a picture to a tally mark would have been another giant conceptual leap. However, think of the time saved just making a vertical line instead of an oval-shaped head with eyes, nose, and horns. Tally marks are an effective form of counting that we still use today. Using tally marks means that early humans genuinely worked in abstraction because the tally mark looks nothing like the bison.
In this game, the students will be early humans working in a tribe to hunt and gather food. They will have to use critical thinking skills in deciding how many people to use for hunting and gathering. By the end of the game, they will also appreciate the significance of tally marks as a method of recording data.