Math Ascension
Target Audience: General Audience
Company: Pestorosso Games
Description: Math Ascension is a tower-building educational video game. The main character is Mathilda, a young girl who, along with her brother, has been turned into a robot by the bad guy, Rob. To become human again, Mathilda goes on an adventure with her friends to the Calculuseum where she is put to the test by the Gladiators’ Guild through quick-fire multiplication battles. This game was designed to help combat math anxiety. 60% of school pupils feel anxious about math and, according to the 2012 PISA study, girls are 20% worse affected than boys. This fear has been linked to children falling behind in maths by almost a year. We think that this needs to change, so we decided to take action. We made a game that builds up children’s confidence and strengthens skills that are often lacking – multiplication and mental math.
Skills and Ideas Taught: Through calculation races, learners gradually master multiplication tables and the basics of mental arithmetic, while gaining confidence in their mathematical skills.
Goal: In Math Ascension, players have to perform multiplications and mental arithmetic as quickly as possible to build a tower that will allow them to reach the finish line before the computer.
Assessment Approach: The main objective of Mathilda, the heroine of Math Ascension, is to reach the top of the Calculuseum. It’s the level of mastery of the learnings that will enable the player to reach the top. Each calculation has its own level of mastery, assessed at the end of the race. To do this, the game takes into account the rate of resolution as well as the time taken to solve each calculation. So, progress in learning corresponds to progress in the game.
Game Engine: Construct3
Operating Systems: Windows 10 / Windows 11 / OSX / iOS / Android
Primary Audience: Learners ages 8 and up This game is particularly relevant for 8-12 year-olds who are confronted with these learnings for the first time. It’s also highly relevant for older students who usually don’t have a good grasp of these skills and experience mathematical anxiety.