Review of the game Meteor Multiplication created by Arcademic Skill Builders
Rating: 
About Meteor Multiplication
Meteor Multiplication is a free-to-play, single-player, drill-and-practice maths game created in Flash. It is designed to help children learn their times tables.
The player controls a space ship that has a number written on it. There are a number of meteors drifting towards the space ship. The meteors have times tables written on them. The space ship has to blast the times table with the correct times table on it. The player has to blast the meteor before it hits the space ship. Once a meteor has been blasted, a new meteor appears and a new number appears on the space ship. This game is designed to be played on a PC or on a Wii using the internet channel.
My Opinion
This game emphasises speed and accuracy in mental calculations. It does not focus on the ability to problem solve. It encourages the automatic recall of information (automaticity). Whilst there is nothing wrong with helping children achieve automaticity, I think that games, especially learning games, have the opportunity to be far more enriching than this. As a game, I do not think it would have a tremendous amount of stick-ability for children.
In this game, as with most drill-and-practice games, the learning is an add-on to the game. The game mechanism is shooting meteors before they hit the space ship. The times tables really just get in the way of the mechanism. I think that learning games are best done when the actual game mechanism is the learning. For example, in Zoombinis Island Odyssey, the mechanism of the game is solving mathematical problems. To solve these problems, the player has to form hypothesese and test them, they have to identify similarities and differences in objects and group them accordingly and observe and identify patterns.
Rules, Challenges and Rewards
The rest of this review will examine the game as a system of rules, challenges and rewards. It will identify 10 major ways rules, challenges and rewards are used within the game and the relationships between them.
As with many computers games, many of the game’s rules are not explicitly stated but can be observed during game-play.
1. player can change game rules by choosing which times tables the game will use
One rule that can be changed during the setup stage of the game is which timetables can be used within the game. By default, the time tables that can be used are between 1 and 12. At the start of the game, the player or the player’s teacher or parent can choose the range of tables that they wish to be tested. If the option of using only the tables between 1 and 3 is selected, then only the following times tables will be tested: 1×1, 1×2, 1×3, 2×1, 2×2, 2×3,3×1, 3×2 and 3×3.
Whilst this is a nice game feature, there is a fault with it. Generally, when someone is learning their times tables, they will learn a particular set of times tables such as the 3 x times tables. The learner will then proceed to learn 3×1, 3×2, 3×3, … , 3×10. In this game, there is no way to choose that you would just like the game to test the 3 times tables.
Above: At the beginning of the game, the player can set the times tables the game will use and the speed of the game.
2. player can change game rules by changing the speed of the game
At the start of the game, the player can choose whether the game speed will be slow, normal or fast. The game speed refers to the rate at which the meteors gravitate towards the space ship. This allows the player to adjust the game speed to provide appropriate challenge for them. It should be noted that regardless of the speed chosen, the speed of the meteors will increase as the player progresses through the levels.
3. unwritten game rule: if a meteor is getting really close to the space ship, its answer will appear in the space ship next
By observing game play, I observed that when a meteor is getting uncomfortably close to the player’s spaceship, the next number that will appear in the space ship will be a match to the times table on the uncomfortably close meteor. Having this knowledge provides an incentive to quickly find the matching meteor for the current number on the spaceship.
It was also noted that while the rule still holds true as the player proceeds to the higher levels (there are 9 levels in total), the meteor is allowed to get even closer before its matching answer will appear. This unwritten game rule is used to increase the challenge of the game as the game progresses.
4. unwritten game rule: as the levels progress, the times tables use bigger numbers
In order to increase the challenge of the game, as the player progresses through the levels, the times tables being examined use bigger numbers. For example, when I was playing a game that ranged in times tables between 1 and 12, the beginning levels mostly used 1x, 2x and 3x tables. Once I made it through to the final levels, the times tables used tended to be the 9x, 10x, 11x and 12x. This increased the level of challenge of the game not only because the numbers involved are bigger but also because bigger numbers tend to have more factors. For example, 24 could be 2×12, 3×8 or 6×4.
5. if a player fails a level, the player has the opportunity to repeat the level
One of the game rules is that if a meteor manages to collide with your space ship and your mission has failed at that level, the game allows you to repeat the level from the start. You do not have to start the whole game again. Your space ship has an unlimited number of lives. This rule helps to challenge the player at the level that they are at and stops them from getting too frustrated at having to start all over again.
6. level of challenge is increased by displaying the answers in the space ship rather than displaying the question
Within the game, a number appears inside the player’s space ship. There are 8 meteors surrounding and closing in on the player’s ship. Each meteor has a times table written on it. The player has to examine each of the meteors and determine which one (and there may be more than one) matches the number appearing inside the player’s space ship.
Another way to create this game would be to display the times table on the space ship and the answers on the meteors. Doing it this way, the game creates more challenge for the player. It encourages more mental calculation. If a player cannot quickly identify which meteor matches the answer on the space ship, they will have to work out the answer for each of the times tables on the meteors until they find a match.
Above: Having the answer rather than the question appear inside the spaceship increases the challenge of the game.
7. the game rewards speed of recall of information
The main challenge for the player is to speedily recall their times tables. The speed required to succeed in the game increases as the player works towards through the 9 levels.
8. the game rewards correct recall of times tables
If a meteor does not match the answer given on the space ship, a time penalty is awarded. All of the times tables on the meteors except on the meteor(s) that the player could have chosen disappear for a couple of seconds. During this time, the player cannot make a new selection. This game behaviour disadvantages the player by giving them a time penalty but also serves to advantage them by showing them the correct answer.
Above: If an incorrect meteor is selected, the incorrect times tables disappear and the gameplay is locked for a couple of seconds.
9. players can set their own goals
If a player does not have fast enough recall of their times tables, they may never make it through all 9 levels of the game. Even if this is the case, the player may still feel a sense of accomplishment in playing the game. A player can set their own goals. For example, if a player has never been able to progress past level 5, then beating level 5 may be an intrinsic reward for that player.
10. the main game reward
When a player completes all 9 levels, a certificate is issued. Personally, I think this is a bit of a let-down. Having a certificate that a child can print is nice but I would have also liked to see something that perhaps extended the narrative of the game – not that there is a lot of game narrative in the first place!
Above: The final game reward is a certificate
Image Attributions
All images used in this review are screenshots taken from the game Meteor Multiplication. These were used for review purposes. If you are the copyright holder of these images and wish for them to be removed, please leave a comment on this blog entry.