MathPuzzler – Early Access Review

The Joys of Being an App Tester

First off, I must say I already love this app. I can see it becoming my favourite Android game for challenging friends and family members to a numerical match in the future. MathPuzzler is an educational arithmetic game based on addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division operations. The premium version of the app offers a larger scale of numbers and four levels, providing excellent value.

MathPuzzler is fantastic as-is and should mostly remain the same for its first release. This way, the public can start enjoying the coolest game at their next gathering. I'm not here to suggest major improvements or critiques; instead, I envision a bright future for both Android-DE and MathPuzzler as a stand-alone app. I hope Android-DE can expand to develop apps for both Android and Apple users.

Having grown up on the internet surrounded by tech-savvy individuals, I understand the value of well-crafted games. Often, they used the latest technology (like video game productions) to succeed. MathPuzzler shows that you can dispense completely with this approach, yet still be engaging with the learner who can indeed make progress.

MathPuzzler has the feel of a retro, early arcade game, but its genius lies in creating a number game that is not reliant on a typical gaming structure. It is I believe more engaging than Sudoku. It reminds me of classic Windows games like Solitaire and Pinball, it’s like making old-fashioned rote learning spring to life, but no longer tediously boring instead frantically absorbing and with no distractions.

Freemium Review – Level One

Well, I’m just going to have a casual game and not try too hard. Relax into and feel the benefits of improving arithmetic and building confidence in numeracy. To begin with we I will be keeping the games short, as a MathPuzzler game can be set to anything from 30 seconds to a max of 10 minutes.

• Addition
  Scored 10 in 30 seconds. Realised after the first two questions to rotate my screen to gaming mode.
• Multiplication
  Scored 9 in 30 seconds. Same thing happened again and I realised I needed to switch the autorotate for widescreen mode.
• Subtraction
  Scored 11 points in 30 seconds. Once again, through my eagerness I forgot to switch to widescreen but this time I just continued and scored my best in half a minute yet.
• Division
  Scored 9 in 30 seconds. Definitely the hardest round. Good job I started in widescreen mode this time.

 

Premium Review – Levels Two, Three, Four

MathPuzzler levels progressively get harder quite quickly making for a challenging game, adjustable for whatever audience and math ability, including some difficulties which require pen and paper.

Level Two

Okay for level two we are going to keep the rounds going for 30 seconds. Let’s go!

• Addition
  Scored 5 in 30 seconds. Just saw the last one was a bit easier before the time buzzer timed out.
• Multiplication
  Scored 2 in 30 seconds. 16 x 21 just stumped me and wasted all the time before trying a few final estimates and then the buzzer went.
• Subtraction
  Scored 7 in 30 seconds and got some confidence back.
• Division
  Scored 6 in 30 seconds. Sometimes there is a little bit of luck as the game gets harder and you make quick estimates on the harder questions. A certain amount of churning in quick guestimates allows you to rack up points.

Level Three

Okay for level three we are going to extend the game length to one minute as it’s about to get hard. Pen and paper are allowed for some of the operations, especially random, but I will be doing as many as possible in my head as I prefer to practice mental arithmetic.

• Addition
  Scored 7 in 1 minute. Not a bad effort. There is a certain level of panic with the game as the time runs down but not in a bad way. It’s the gaming aspect of getting better at these number operations.
• Multiplication
  Scored 1 in 1 minute. Got the first one right and then the second question 29 x 33 just stumped me, again. Might need to work on my multiplication a bit, if I want to be good at this in my head but that’s what MathPuzzler is all about.
• Subtraction
  Scored zilch in 1 minute. That is exactly what the notification said. I feel distraught. But maybe I can make it up in division.
• Division
  Scored 2 in 1 minute. Got stumped once more by 156 / 6 – which I know equals 26, but I ran out of time.

Level Four

If level 3 is anything to go by, I will be lucky to get a single point in this round. We are going to do a quickfire round for 30 seconds ago and see if I can a point on each round. Any point is a victory!

• Addition
  Scored 1 point in 30 seconds. Wahoo. The numbers are all in the thousands now.
• Multiplication
  Well I scored zero. Didn’t get past the first question. The question easier than the last round, so I don’t want happened. Buckled under the pressure.
• Subtraction
  Scored zilch again. Not sure what’s happening but you have to play the game to see how hard this is to do in your head.
• Division
  1505 / 35 = 43. That was the last one but I didn’t get it. I determined to come back for another review with an expresso and a paper and a pen to prove my worth to MathPuzzler app, which has beaten me today.

 

Features I'd like to see

• A dark mode device skin, as seen in many popular apps.
• A professional subscription with more premium features, like worksheets, printing etc.
• Multiple user option, initially for two players/learners, especially for larger tablets.
• High ranking tables for players to compare scores and foster competition.
• An alternate screen layout in landscape mode with the number keyboard directly below the numbers in question for a more streamlined experience.

I look forward to more educational games with a classic arcade feel in the future.

Update

Well, I mentioned to the creator of the MathPuzzler app some of these features and Mike has responded by updating the game with an alternative screen layout for a widescreen gaming mode. This is a great feature as someone who is used to playing games on a phone, being able to play properly in an autorotated position makes the game streamlined and easy to use. I hope to see in the future, more features updated and looking forward to the apps on showcase here at Android-DE.

Next Time

In the next follow-up review I will go into other features of the MathPuzzler app, the learning zone and the great educational advantages of having such an app at your hands. I definitely feel a bit more confident with numbers from today’s session, and my brain feels more awake from it.
Next time, it will be all about the pen and paper for levels 3, 4 and especially when the random option is chosen (the operator is chosen randomly, making even level 1 tricky for some. Thanks for reading and hopefully the MathPuzzler app will be out soon.