Mobile phone game that teaches you maths

Mathematics is a subject that plagues many Kenyans from a young age. Numbers, deductive reasoning and in examination settings, a set time to tackle complex equations, maths has become a subject that many have come to loathe as the degree of difficulty increases with each level.

The dread surrounding maths stands out year after year in national examination analyses.

In 2017, Nation Newsplex reported that a staggering 99 per cent of students who sat their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations in 2016 scored below grade ‘C’ in the Mathematics Alternative B paper, with nearly 90 per cent of them scoring between C- and E in the Mathematics Alternative A paper.

That means that exactly 493,184 of the 569,733 candidates failed the subject.

The trend begins at a young age, as building up to complex equation often requires a thorough understanding of basic mathematics.

In the 2019 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam, the analysis brings out yet another disparity. Boys perform marginally better than their female counterparts in maths across the country. How can one mitigate the crisis around the subject, which proves to be a critical part of everyday life?

Moses Mbugua of Mesmerize Games was inspired by this reality and sought to create a game that is not only fun, but also highlights key areas that need improvement in the discipline.

“The idea came about when my nephew and niece had just started learning basic maths. I had a casual conversation with my sister, who told me that my nephew, in particular, had been struggling with simple addition,” he says.
Moses too struggled with maths in school.

“People in general assume they have a grasp on maths at a basic level, but I’ve found that not to be the case. For instance, if someone were to ask me what 13 x 13 is, it would probably take me longer than a minute to find the answer. I might even start counting on my fingers,” he jokes.
Performing tasks like this without the aid of a calculator is a problem that even adults might face in their day-to-day lives.

FUN GAME

“What if there was a fun game that would help people solve basic equations faster?” he wondered.

This is what led to the game, Explosive Math.

“In it, there are giant objects falling from outer space towards a fictional city. Each one of these objects has an equation attached to it. It is up to the player to figure out the answer to the equation,” he explains.

The game features a keypad that allows the player to input the correct answer to the equation. Once you key in the answer and hit the ‘Enter’ key, the object blows up.

The objective is to blow up as many falling objects as possible to ultimately save the city, he explains.

He says his nephew’s learning capabilities improved after playing the game.

“It isn’t an overnight thing, and the objective is to make it a fun and engaging experience that one can play continuously. Over a series of sessions, one’s capabilities generally improve, especially in regard to maths,” he affirms.

The primary incentive is the score, but he intends to create a more structured metric for the child’s development as well.

“I’m currently working on a reporting system. Over time, a parent will receive an auto-generated email that will track the child’s capabilities and highlight areas they may be struggling with and therefore require more attention,” he says. The game is suitable for adults who would like to improve their cognitive skills as well.

“It features a dynamic difficulty system that allows the player to set the parameters for the equations,” he says.

This means that one can opt to tackle multiplication and division equations exclusively and can also decide how many numbers they want to work with.

“You can also send challenges to your friends via WhatsApp after setting a degree of difficulty,” he adds. He says some of his friends who performed exceptionally well at high school level have found the game quite challenging as well.

He believes the game will go a long way in changing the collective attitude towards maths.

“If I had something that associated math with fun when I was in school, I probably would have performed better,” he says. The game is free and is accessible on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.