If you love maths and computer games, then you have come to the right place. Here we have gathered 7 math computer games that will help you, or your loved ones, get to grips with math and have fun at the same time.
Who could say no?
This list is far from exhaustive and is no particular order.
What skills can video games improve?
Video games, believe it or not, have been shown to help develop some real-life skills. But with subject-specific games like the ones below, they can help directly develop and reinforce basic numeracy skills.
Other skills range from things like hand-eye coordination, multi-tasking, and quicker decision making, to name but a few. Of course, spending too many hours playing games can be detrimental to your mental and physical health.
Everything in moderation as they say.
Are video games good for learning?
Any teaching aid that helps keep students engaged is always a good thing. Whilst interactive lessons are great, computer games, it seems, can be a powerful learning aid.
In fact, some studies have shown that playing educational games can improve student’s skills, and not by an insignificant amount.
One particular case showed, on average, a 49 to 83% increase in math-skills from playing online math-based learning games.
1. Tami’s Tower is great for budding engineers
Tami’s Tower, developed by the Smithsonian Science Education Center, is a great little game for children of all ages. The idea of the game is to help Tami (a golden lion tamarin) reach some food by building towers.
Sounds simple enough, but you will need to defy not only gravity but other mischievous animals attempting to thwart Tami’s efforts.
This game will teach players about some basic maths, physics, and engineering principles, and is, quite frankly, incredibly fun.
As you might have guessed, this educational game has been built to help teach your student how to design a solution to a problem using basic engineering design principles.
2. Prodigy is a math-based battle game
Prodigy is a free to play, a curriculum-based math computer game that is perfect for entertaining children and teaches them basic mathematical skills. This game is perfect for home and classroom-based math activities.
The game borrows heavily from RPGs like Pokemon to keep players engaged and challenge them to improve their maths knowledge and ability. Each player engages in combat with in-game characters and must solve a set of maths questions to defeat the enemy.
Teachers can even customize question sets to align them with their class material. The game also incorporates adaptive learning and differentiated instruction to adjust content depending on students’ abilities.
3. Sudoku is a classic
Whilst Sudoku is not technically speaking purely a computer game, you can find plenty of free-to-play apps on most platforms. If you have never played it before, Sudoku is a logic-based, combinational, number-placement puzzle.
They have become very popular over the last ten years or so and are often found in conjunction with other classic brainteasers like crosswords in newspapers. The rise of smartphones has enabled the game to go digital and sometimes comes as a standard in-built game.
But if not, you can easily find free-to-play websites online or download apps from your relevant platform’s games hub. It might take a little getting used to for beginners, but it is incredibly rewarding once you complete each challenge.
4. Gravity Simulator is incredibly fun
Gravity Simulator is a game designed to let you control the fundamental forces of the universe. By playing around with certain parameters you can watch as gravity goes haywire right in front of your very eyes.
Launch stars and planets, and watch as gravitational patterns unfold. Conic sections, dancing spirals, spirographs, and plenty of utter chaos will appear before your eyes.
You can also play around with the underlying physics of the game too. There is even a General Relativity toggle that lets you see the effects of mass on space-time.
What weird and fascinating universes can you create by playing with the laws of physics?
You can save your Universe at any time and share it with your friends too.
5. Mathmateer lets you build rockets with maths
Mathmateer is a great smart-device math-based game that is perfect for teaching maths in an engaging way. It is pay-to-play but the small fee is definitely worth it.
This excellent math-learning game has long been called one of the best games for kids for teaching maths. It includes around 56 unique missions that require the player to solve mathematical problems to build and launch their own rockets.
“Each mission has touchable objects floating in space, including stars, coins, clocks, 3D shapes, and even pizzas! Earn a bronze, silver or gold medal and also try to beat your high score. Missions range in difficulty from even/odd numbers all the way to square roots, so kids and their parents will enjoy hours of fun while learning math.” – iTunes.
6. Toon Math is great for younger mathematicians
Toon Math is an endless run adventure that sees the player solving maths problems as they go. This game is designed for younger learners but should definitely boost their mathematical skills in no time.
Toon Math Endless Run is here to help your child enjoy a cool math experience that will complement the lessons he learns at school.
The main aim of the game is to rescue all of your friends who’ve been kidnapped and taken to Halloween Town. You have till midnight to get them all back before they are turned into scarecrows!
“Become the ultimate math ninja, try to eliminate all the enemies in front of you and take your gameplay experience to the next level, only with Toon Math Endless Run!” – Google Play.
7. Math Land combines pirates and maths
Nothing goes together better than mathematics and pirates. That’s why Math Land might just be the perfect math-based game for kids of all ages.
The game is designed to be a fun way to develop and reinforce basic numerical skills like sums, subtraction, multiplication, sorting from higher to lower, division, and negative numbers.
Within the game, an evil pirate called Max has stolen a bunch of sacred gems and laid a load of traps and obstacles for any want-to-be rescuers. The player takes on the role of another pirate, Ray, to help find and reclaim the gems to restore balance to the world.
Game progress is made by solving mathematical problems and equations. The game includes 25 levels in total and is aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 12.
Source: https://interestingengineering.com/7-video-games-to-help-make-teaching-math-fun
