"But Mom, I HATE math!." If you're like me, these are words that you uttered many times between the ages of 7 and 18. And if you're a parent like me, they are words that you are now hearing said by your 7 to 18 year old. No matter which side of this conversation you find yourself on, now, though, the good news is: there is a solution.
Add 'em Up, by designer Mike Summers of Blue Bug Games, is both fun and educational for anyone who has learned basic addition. Add 'em Up is played on a 5x5 tiled grid that comes pre-filled with single digit numbers. Numbers come up in the queue in random order which must be played on the board. Your goal is to match that number with the one's-place of the sum of numbers around it. For example, should you receive a 4, you'll want to highlight a block of 4, 14 or even 24. To win you must clear the board of all tiles. You score bonus points for removing 4 or more tiles at a time.
This game can be as simple as having to clear a board half full to as hard as clearing a board where you have just 16 tiles to begin with. Every game is different because the board is randomly filled and the queue is also randomly generated. And if this doesn't provide enough hours of entertainment, there is also a timed mode where you challenge yourself to clear the board as quickly as possible.
You can really challenge your mind by trying to solve one of the 56 available puzzles. In puzzle mode, the board is pre-set and you have only a certain quantity of set numbers to use to clear the board. For example, in one puzzle you have two 3x3 boards each with a one in the center. You only have a single 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 0 to use to clear both boards. So you must determine how those numbers must combine with the one's in order to move on to the next stage. To add a bit of silliness to this, the puzzles are in shapes - apples, butterflies, smilie emoitcons with appropriate names.
This program seemed so simple when I first started playing it. I'd been adding since first grade, this was math I could handle. But, before long I was challenging myself to get higher and higher scores, to not just clear the board, but clear the board by taking 4 or more tiles off per move to increase my bonus. And then I opened up the puzzle mode and lost hours having fun while doing math!!
I introduced the game to my own children, one who is in 4th grade, the other in 1st. My first grader had some trouble understanding that you only had to worry about what was in the one's place, and I usually play with her when she plays, but she still enjoys it. My fourth grader thinks it is "way cool" that his dad likes playing the same game he does, and the two of them spend time challenging one another to clear boards in ever shorter times. My husband is also a math teacher at a girls' boarding school. After sharing the game with him, he loaded it on some of the school computers and we now have the girls hooked on playing as well. Some of his students are so math advanced that they have taken AP calculus and statistics, but they still enjoy the challenge of playing Add 'em Up. They are even planning to include the game as part of the school wide spirit week competitions, the girls liked it so much.
I highly recommend the game to anyone who is looking to have some fun with math and exercise their brain for hours.
I’ve played computer games since college, addicted first to story type games like Might and Magic. I have 3 children who also love computer games. My oldest son is a typical kid who loves the challenge of pressing the right combination of buttons and levers on a joystick in just the right way to make something happens, and frequently gets frustrated with mom’s slow fingers. ;) We use computers for both education and entertainment, and sometimes even bribery for good behavior.
The “glory days” of computer gaming for me were when games like Spectre Supreme, Pirate’s Gold, the Might and Magic series, the original Prince of Persia… those sorts of games were coming out on a regular basis. Back then I owned a Macintosh and was a die hard Mac fan. I was one of the first in my area to buy an iMac and on it learned the joy of playing games on the internet like daily crossword puzzle and “mind bender” type puzzles. My first online RPG was given to me for Christmas the year EQ was released, and I was hooked from day one. I played EQ for about a year. I started playing DaoC during late alpha testing, and was hooked on it.. well, to be honest I still am. I’ve tried pretty much every MMORPG I can get my hands on, from big names like EQ, to more obscure ones such as Underlight. I’ve been writing for IMGS since the first DaoC guide, and find I love the challenge of learning a game and presenting what I’ve learned (and sometimes my opinions), to other players.
I’m not a very strong player as far as learning PvE or quick reaction times, so I tend to stay away from games where I’m pitted against someone else in a way that requires physical (rather than mental) response. I still enjoy story and puzzle games, and in a way that’s how I still approach online games. I would much rather spend hours working through a quest than 5 minutes in combat against another player. I still get lost in simulation type games, obsessing over them until I’ve gotten them beaten. And I like being able to sit down at the computer when I’ve got less than half an hour and playing through a few levels of a puzzle game. I tend not to like first-person shooter type games, or anything with person to person violence, so I steer away from them unless they are fantasy based settings. All in all, I enjoy computer gaming so much that my life feels incomplete somehow when my computer is down.
