Is it possible to create a math computer game?

Number Muncher was the original math computer game. I understand that there are wristwatches with enough processing power to run this thing.

One that I saw on a calculator once was Decimal Defender.

There’s always Math Blaster.

I was writing math tutoring programs before computers were popular, so yes it it is very possible. I recommend an outline of how you want it to run and write the routines from there

My first program was written on punch-cards, yes, I’m that old

Do you actually have to create the game? Is this a programming class?

To create a game, you have to know some sort of programming language. I really don’t know what sort of language to recommend.

Well, my girlfriend and her husband created a card game Mythmatical Battles That teaches younger children multiplication tables, I guess it could be made into playing against the computer. Kind of like the card game war, but the total of the card has two different ways to get the answer, for instance 2×10/4×5. So, are there any math games that apply to 8th graders that you could adapt to a computer game?

I’ve seen some pretty cool programmes that have used either Alice (from Carnegie Mellon University) or Scratch (from MIT).

First you have to decide what skills you want to teach. Will the game give practice in performing that math skill, or will it just reward for correct answers? Those are two different things.

Then you have to choose some kind of a game format. Is there a skill element to the game itself? Is it practicing the math skill, or is it a game skill? Will it support or distract from the teaching?

Or is it just some kind of graphic metaphor—for example, computing the number of bricks in a wall—or graphic reward, such as gaining tokens for so many correct answers? Is speed a factor?

And then you have to have the design and coding skill to create the program, do record-keeping (scorekeeping), save data, etc.

This is a huge amount of work that entire teams of curriculum developers, media designers, and software engineers and programmers perform over a period of months in production settings. So perhaps this is not a right understanding of your assignment. Maybe a little more detail would help us help you.

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OPINION: Games that confuse practice with fluff and lengthen study time without contributing content or process knowledge are a waste of students’ effort, in my opinion. They don’t make learning “fun”—they confuse the real pleasure of learning and mastery with empty entertainment.

Since the game is for 8th graders, the curriculum would include -
square roots,
exponents,
the sets of numbers (counting, whole, integer, rational, real),
simplifing polynomial espressions, geometric series, geometry,
scientific notation,
percents (like calculating the sale price of items),
propeties of + – / *
+ – / * -ing integers

The easiest to include would be evaluating expressions with integers. You could present a problem and have the player try to solve it as fast as possible. You could have it so each level includes one more operation than the last. Level 1 is 17 * -3, level 2 is 5 * 4^2, level 3 is 18 + 3 * 5^4, etc.

I agree, make something in Scratch, its very easy.

You don’t need to know a programming language to use the program Game Maker. It’s also free.