Their value would be so much more heartfelt if students actually encountered math word problems outside class. But they don&#x27;t. And part of it is because they don&#x27;t exist. They are hostile games. By hostile I mean they are designed with gotchas and purposely ambiguous, and they have unnatural rules like the inability to ask for more information or to get help. In real life, problem solving does not present itself like this.<p>Those that do well are the students that understand the game, and play along. They are not learning math, but do well &quot;against&quot; math word problems.<p>The question as educators is simply, &quot;is this the definition of good?&quot;