Math Archer

Release info

2021-10-23

This is a first playable draft of Math Archer, a small math game where your objective is to solve simple arithmetic and place a target at the correct level. 

This game is a learning project for me, as part of the Devtober gamejam. 

The project was a great learning experience for me. Towards the end of october, I’ll publish a small post mortem about the process and what I learned in project management. Any and all feedback is much welcomed.

Practice vs. Challenge Mode

Math Archer features two distinct modes - Practice and Challenge. In Practice Mode, there is no time limit and the target starts at the exact same level as the archer. A written instruction is displayed to the player, who can follow the instructions verbatim to get a correct result.

In challenge mode, twenty randomized problems will be given. The target doesn't reset to the archer's level after each question. The faster the player answers the question, the more points are given (as long as it's the correct answer).

Educational games

I strongly believe that education is essential to progress in society, and that fostering a love for learning early on leads to more opportunities later in life, no matter what a person's interests or goals are. The skill of learning might be one of the most important skills we have. 

There seems to be a lot of kids who fear math and the challenges they pose. I believe that math is a subject at risk of being divisive. A child who masters mental arithmetic, and "seeing" the result of basic arithmetic operations without having to think/calculate can spend all their attention on what new concepts and methods the teacher is demonstrating. On the other hand, a child that struggles with those basic operations will not be able to pay attention to the teacher as they will be too busy trying to figure out the arithmetic. This leads to the child mastering arithmetic following along with the teacher, while the other child falls even further behind. 

The above paragraphs are the motivation for me to make a small little game that will train kids in the transitions between positive and negative numbers. This is done visually by having an archer on a numbered platform, aiming X amounts of levels above or below themselves. The goal for the player is to position the target at the right level and press space.