With game categories like Zombies, Shooting and Racing on Zui.com, it’s tough for games in the math category to get any attention. Let’s face it, on the surface, math certainly doesn’t seem like the most exciting subject. Heck, even the word itself sounds kind of boring. But whether you’re a fan of math or think you’re allergic to it, there’s a surprising amount of fun to be found in the math games on Zui.com.
So even if you’re one who thinks you’ll ever have a need for trigonometry in real life (and you’re probably right), here are 4 games on Zui.com which show how math can be useful – and fun:
Bus Driver’s Math
In this game, you’re the bus driver, and you’ll need to use quick computational skills to make sure that each passenger has given you enough money to be able to ride the bus. While the math concept and the game is fairly simple, the funniest part of this game is when you get to boot people off the bus. Not enough money, no riding on my bus!
This guy tried to get on our bus without enough money. If we weren’t so quick at math, we may not have realized it!
Math Lines
This puzzle game requires quick thinking and good aim as you must destroy balls by forming pairs that add up to 10. So for example, if you have a 2, you need to make sure to add an 8 to it or else the ball will be added to the number chain. And if the number chain gets too long, the game will be over. As you’re playing, you can shoot a power-up that turns all the matching sums the same color to make it easier to shorten your change and destroy all the balls. That probably made it sound way more difficult than it really is. Make sure to check this one out if you love long gameplay sessions and building up high scores you can brag about.
Not only do you need to be able to quickly identify pairs that add up to 10, you’ll need to have good aim in order to make a match in Math Lines.
Math Man
In this Pac-Man style game, you’ll use the arrow keys to navigate around the maze and avoid the ghosts. Sound familiar? Well, that’s where the math twist comes in. Once you make it to a special “Question Mark” pellet, an equation appear and you must eat the ghost with the number that solves the equation. The equations can be tricky, and may require multiple calculations on the fly. To complete each level, you don’t have to eat all the pellets, but instead you must eat all the ghosts, so you’ll need to make sure your math skills are sharp if you want to move on.
Clear the level in Math Man by eating the ghosts that solve the equations from the “Question Mark” pellets.
Brain Safari
These timed math mini-games require quick and critical thinking. You may need to determine which object is heaviest, complete a puzzle,or quickly solve equations. You’ve got a minute to do each exercise, and then you move onto the next one. After four games, you get a final score, which contains an “analysis” of your performance in four different categories: Analyze, Calculate, Memory and Visual. We love the quick pace, cartoon characters and the way the score analyzes you you think.
Problems start out easy, but as you get more and more correct, you’ll need to use logic to figure out the answer in Brain Safari.
So whether you’re looking for something fun to play on summer break or you want a game that will challenge your mind as well as your reflexes, give some of these math games on Zui.com a try.
Johner
Zui Gamer
Johner Riehl is co-author of the Modern Parent’s Guidebook series and the founder and editorial director of FamilyFriendlyVideoGames.com, a site dedicated to offering families easy-to-understand information about family-friendly games and Apps. He lives in San Diego with his wife Christina and three sons.
