What is the Make 10 card game?
The Make 10 card game is a family math game played with an ordinary deck: remove the 10s and face cards, then collect any cards that add up to exactly 10. It drills the five number bonds to 10 (1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5) without anyone holding up a flashcard.
Same facts. No quiz face. Kids ask for "one more round."
How to play Make 10, in 3 steps
- Strip the deck. Remove 10s, Jacks, Queens and Kings. Aces count as 1. You have 36 cards from Ace to 9.
- Deal a grid. Lay nine cards face up in a 3×3 square. Keep the rest as a draw pile.
- Take tens, refill, repeat. On your turn, take any two cards that make 10 and fill the gaps from the pile. No pair? Deal one extra card. Most pairs when the pile runs out wins.
Two more ways to play the make ten card game
- Tens Concentration. All 36 cards face down. Flip two; keep them if they make 10. Great for memory as well as facts.
- Go Fish for Tens. Deal five each. Ask "Do you have a 7?" when you hold a 3. Lay down pairs that make 10.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: play with the cards face up and a ten-frame drawn on paper, so your child can count the gap. Or use only Ace to 5 plus their partners, and add the rest later.
- Harder: allow three cards that make 10 (2 + 3 + 5), or play Make 15 with the same deck. Number Beasts saves its 15s and 20s for Chaos Laboratory, the third world.
- Faster: set a sand timer for each turn only once the pairs come without counting. Speed before accuracy builds guessing.
How today's puzzle works
Every day this page deals seven cards from Ace to 9. Three pairs make ten and one card is left over. We checked all fourteen hands in the rotation by trying every possible grouping, so each has exactly one odd card out. It changes at midnight on your device, just like the Daily Lab in the app.
From the card table to the Bond Lab
Screenshots shown in our page colors; the app itself is full color.
A Thursday at the kitchen table
Dinner plates are stacked and nobody wants homework. You fan nine cards in a square. "Find two that make ten." A 6 and a 4 go fast. The 3 sits there until someone spots the 7 under the salt shaker. By round three your kid is saying "I need a 2" before you have finished dealing.
The next morning, in the car line, the same kid opens Number Beasts and launches a 4 into a 6. It pops. Nobody had to say the word practice.
Flashcards, the card game and the app, compared
Flashcards
Fast recall drill. One right answer, one adult asking. Can feel like a test.
Make 10 card game
Same facts, taken turns, a winner. Needs a second player and a table.
Number Beasts
Solo play. Adds feeding, bridging past 10 and planning the order. A phone, not a person, sets the puzzle.
Who Number Beasts is not for
Families who want screen-free math only: the card game above is the whole answer, and a good one. Children still learning to count to 10: start with counting games first. Kids who want competitive multiplayer: the app is single player, though Beast Workshop puzzles can be shared as short codes. One limitation we chose on purpose: hero tools cost stars, so a stage cleared with help shows two stars, not three.
Deal a practice grid
No deck handy? Deal nine cards here and find every pair that makes 10.
Make 10 card game questions
How do you play the Make 10 card game?
Take the 10s and face cards out of a standard deck so only Ace (worth 1) to 9 remain. Deal cards face up and take any two that add up to exactly 10. The player with the most pairs at the end wins.
What age is the Make 10 card game for?
It suits children who can count to 10 and are learning addition facts, which is usually around kindergarten to second grade. Younger kids can play with the cards face up and a parent helping.
Do you keep the 10s in a Make 10 game?
Most families remove them, because a 10 makes ten on its own and ends the thinking. Some keep them as a free bonus card. Pick one rule and keep it for the whole game.
What is a number bond to 10?
A pair of numbers that add up to 10: 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, 5 and 5. Knowing these by heart makes later adding and subtracting much faster.
Is Number Beasts the same as the card game?
No. It uses the same make-ten idea, but you launch numbers at beasts: exactly 10 pops a beast, too little makes it grow, and too much pops it while the leftover keeps flying. The card game is the warm-up; the app adds planning.
Does Number Beasts cost anything?
It is free on the App Store with no ads, no accounts, no tracking and no in-app purchases, according to its listing. It works offline.
Keep the cards. Add the beasts.
Open Number Beasts in the App Store: free, offline, no ads and no in-app purchases. A new Daily Lab puzzle waits every day, just like this page.
Open Number Beasts in the App Store · Updated November 2026
Related
- Number Beasts: the make-ten number bond puzzleLaunch a number, make 10, carry the rest. A turn-based number bonds puzzle for iPhone with 45 stages. No ads, no purchases, offline.
- What to do when your child still counts on fingersFinger counting is a normal stage. Pick your child's situation for the next step to try, from counting on to make-ten games, with sources.
- Math games instead of worksheets: which swap fitsWhen worksheets end in tears: compare a card game, a shorter sheet and a make-ten puzzle app, then take a 3-question quiz to pick one.
- Best number bonds app for kids: 4 comparedA parent's guide to four iPhone and iPad number bonds apps: price, ads, sums covered, progress tracking. Three taps match one to your child.