Innovative Math Game

I get a lot of links to educational resources, especially web sites where parents and educators can find free printables or interactive games for learning to read, to do arithmetic, etc. There are a good number of quality resources that kids like, so I don’t usually make a big deal about a glitzy computer game that teaches. Especially if it’s being offered for a fee.

That being said, I really wanted to tell my readers about Timez Attack. It is honestly one of the best resources I’ve been sent this year, and I’m willing to bet that anyone who has kids learning multiplication will be as impressed with it as I am. Timez Attack is a maze-style game that could easily compete with any kids’ game you have for your Nintendo, X-Box or PlayStation. The folks at Big Brainz usually make high-end video games, and let me tell you, they haven’t spared any of the sophistication when it comes to this educational game!

Aimed at kids who are learning their times tables, the game begins in a dungeon-like scenario where the player first learns how to navigate using the mouse and keyboard. Once navigation is established, the player moves through the dungeon towards a series of doors that each challenge him with a multiplication problem. Once the correct answer is given, the door will open and an ogre will continue to challenge the player with more problems. If the challenge is met, the player wins the key that will open the next door. He then navigates to another door, where the process is repeated.

My description may be oversimplifying the game a bit much, so I suggest that you view the How to Play video to get a good introduction to what goes on in the game play. What I’d like to point out in the meantime is that this game is well designed, from an academic as well as a gaming point of view. Some of the highlights are:

The game covers multiplication facts from 2-12;
Each fact is first taught and demonstrated visually, and then the player is tested for comprehension;
The game is engineered to move learned facts from short term to long term memory: as play continues the facts learned earlier in the game are re-tested and mixed in with facts more recently learned;
In the learning phase problems are set up visually with both numbers and a diagram, and there is also an audio component for learners who depend more on this type of input in their learning;
Because the player has to stop and wait for things to occur, or to focus on navigating through the dungeon, there is time for facts to really sink in before they are tested again;
Kids think of the primary purpose of the game as navigating through the maze, opening doors and defeating ogres - because of this, the learning of the multiplication facts happens almost in the background. Charlotte Mason found this was an extremely effective way for anybody to commit knowledge to memory.

Each level of the game deals with one set of multiplication facts. So all the problems in level 2 deal with the “2x” table. Once all the facts have been mastered there is an ogre that will test the player on all the facts for that table. Answers must be given before a timer runs out, so the facts must really have been committed to memory: there’s no time for your student to count or do the computation at this point. At the end of the test a scoreboard appears, where the player can see which facts he has mastered and which ones he needs to practice a bit more. If more practice is needed, he will be sent to work on the problems he needs to learn and then he will be re-tested. Once total mastery is achieved the level is complete.

At this point I would like to tell you that anyone can download the demo version of the game from the web site, free of charge. The demo is a fully-featured version that teaches all the facts for multiplication from 2-12, just the same as the pay version. But if you like the program as much as we did in our house, you’ll want to get the full version. It can be downloaded for $39.99 USD, or you can order a CD version (and get the download as well) for an extra $5.

The main advantage of the full version is that the scenarios change from one level to the next, whereas in the free basic version the player stays in the dungeon with the ogres. In the full version, the navigation aspect of play becomes more difficult. Because the player has learned many of the facts while working on the lower levels, this extra challenge is not overwhelming. Remember 2×9 is the same as 9×2, 3×9 is 9×3, 4×9 is 9×4, etc. So essentially when the higher levels are reached the player has fewer facts to master. I’m willing to bet the additional challenge of moving about in the game helps the player to “forget” they are working on problems that are more difficult, too! Some of the additional scenarios in the full game are a machine world and a lava world with fire breathing dragons.

Like most high-end games, Timez Attack offers the option of saving a game and coming back to it later. There are a number of helps and cheats, that allow a player to go directly to the final challenge for a level if he thinks he is ready for it. You can also go directly to the level corresponding to a particular multiplication table if you want, which makes the game perfect for remediation or review as well as initial teaching of multiplication.

The game is available for both Mac and PC, and you can also get a Spanish version which at the time of writing was discounted to $19.99 for the full game! For classroom teachers or schools there is a 30-day demo version of the full game, and pricing scaled to your particular uses of the game. The school version offers goodies such as the creation of reports so teachers can track the progress of a single student, a class, or even a whole school.

Timez Attack is an encouraging and fairly forgiving game. It is possible to get lost in the maze, or occasionally to end up positioned so the player can’t see the “boss” ogre doing the testing. But in general, the game in designed to help your child along. Most times the worst that will happen is a door won’t open yet, or the player may have to repeat a few challenges for practice. Although some of the figures in the game (e.g. dragons, ogres) look a little menacing they are actually set up to be helpful. I test played the 2x level. The ogres nod or shake their heads to indicate if the answer is correct. All but the “bosses” will give the correct response and return to a problem after another fact is tested. Ogres do carry big clubs that they wave at the little green guy who represents the player. But when they “strike” the player is just hit by some green goo and knocked over. The character gets right back up again, and keeps playing. When an ogre has exhausted his challenges he either dissolves into the floor, or retreats.

If I had to pick a weak area of this game I would say that its audio component could stand a slight improvement. The little voice that says the numbers when facts are taught isn’t as clear as I would like it to be, and I’d actually like to hear the voice say something more than just the numbers. If not “two times four” then perhaps something like “two groups of four.” I’m not sure why the developers didn’t do this, however it would be an easy thing to fix and I think it would be beneficial for aural learners. If you have a child like this, I suggest you have the child say the numbers and the facts aloud, as he plays the game. This will improve his retention of the facts and give him quicker success in the game.

Except for that one small issue, I’d say this is a perfect game. But do expect that your kids will not want to stop playing it! If you want to get other work done you’ll need to assign it before your kids sit down to work on their times tables
Get the free download of Times Attack and give it a test drive at your house. But if you enjoy this game, do encourage the developers by upgrading to the full version! I’m sure they’ve got a ton of ideas for similarly educational games….