Math Mania – Test Your Math Skills

Available In: App Store

Price: $1.99

How fitting that my 10th review for the “School” is a math game? If you’ll recall, it was just over 3 weeks ago that I submitted my first iPhone app review of Math Sticker, a simple game that tested one’s math reasoning skills. Well, here we go again with a math game, this time a rapid-fire touch app involving simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems.

Overview
The game is simple: identify as many math problems as correct or incorrect in either 30 or 60 seconds. You can choose what types of problems are allowed (addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, powers), how long the game is (30 or 60 sec), and whether to have sound on. From the main menu, you can also view your personal stats as well as connect to PumpkinPulse.com to view the high scores of everyone (all 10 of us) playing Math Mania.

2 + 2 = 4.
Just as Math Sticker reminded me of a Brain Age type game for the Nintendo DS, Math Mania does the same, only the animated Japanese character is sadly absent from this game as well. Also missing is any sort of training or progress statistic. All you get are math problems, rapidly thrown at you for 30 or 60 seconds. Granted, it was cool to see my name on the top scores list. However, something tells me there isn’t too much competition out there currently. Still, I rejoice in my top ten finishes and challenge thee to a math duel. Pencils down, Thumbs ready!

So you left your TI-83 at home, huh?
There isn’t much room for repeat playability with Math Mania. I’d call it more a Math Episode rather than a Mania. Although I did enjoy the games that I played, and it was mildly intriguing to try and conquer the leader board, that’s about where my interest stopped. I could only take so much math in one sitting before ultimately getting bored (and I love math). My recommendation for updates: include additional games that focus on math or other educational subjects. I’d also try to get more people to play (by reducing the price), and perhaps, hold weekly contests with prizes to drum up additional interest.

Conclusion
At $1.99, Math Mania is a bit pricey for a game with a rather limited upside. As mentioned above, I liked the inclusion of the instant link to the high scores, but this isn’t enough to justify paying for an app that just displays math problems quickly. If updates include more games or additional options, I’d reconsider. Until then, I’d stick with a free math puzzle app or dust off your DS and play some Brain Age.