Maths Video Game

Hi guys.

I had a brilliant thought. What about a video game which is based on scientific puzzles you have to solve? Alright hang on there.

Imagine an rpg like skyrim where you have to fight ennemies, explore dungeons and solve sometimes solve mathematical puzzles to advance further.

The game would have to be revolving around the mathematical theme, like Sets for example. You start learning about real numbers, learning what bijection is, theorems and etc, and you advance into the game with the knowledge you acquire throughout the game.

There would be cutscenes for each moment a new concept is introduced, which ought to be very clear and good. And at one point you see a boss you cannot defeat because there's a square root of a negative number. Then you start doing other quests until you come to a master who teaches you complex numbers (all with epic music involved and 3d animations etc..) and you destroy the boss and beat the game.

Each cutscene would give you papers containing relevant informations about what the cutscene was talking about which you can check in the menu, like memos and how to do. You could also see the cutsenes over and over to understand better and remember.


That would be the first game. The next could very well be about sequences, next about sums, etc..

The point is not make maths even more attractive and fun.
Opinion?

could probably be done but is too niche and has the production costs are too high

nobody would want to play it

t. someone who loves math

I like.
Make it and I will play.
However, I expect Skyrim-esque quality now that I've seen that meme.

I think you're wrong. The game could very well be something that revolutionizes the way we look at science. Youngsters learn maths as something they "have to" in order to succeed. There's no passion or dedication, which could be done in a format which doesn't put you in the pressure of exams, but for fun, like skyrim.

It has never be done before, could be the IQ enhancer all of /sci posters have been looking for.

There is a reason why math games are shit like sayed Production cost are too high and nowon would play it

I am not gonna be the one who make it, i'm still a busy student there, just an idea I would admire to happen.

People would play it if the game is good, like any other game.

I would like to see the game to I would not play it but I would like to see it

The idea of a game centered around math is interesting, but would get boring quickly if it's an rpg like Skyrim, as the fighting aspect quickly outweighs the mathematical puzzles that would be involved, thus reducing the desire to play the game. Does anyone recall the 999 video-game for the DS; it was centered around a mathematical concept(digital roots), albeit a rather simple one, and the integration of digital roots didn't hurt the playability of the game; in fact, it made it better. I think a game similar to this would work, I dunno.

I know what you mean, but with a proper balance, which is obviously something to solve, it could be done. It is of course a huge project, because no one ever tried it.

Anyway if anyone becomes billionaire by doing it, don't forget to give me something for the idea, like some millions would be enough.

Well, there aren't any good math games but there are good logic games like sudoku and that japanese box game.

Great idea, ideas user.

brb making this game

sounds like Frog Fractions

this, frog fractions is great at teaching math to people of all ages. You start out slow, but quickly go into higher levels of math in an easy to grasp pathway.

We could just mod Skyrim
>An entire game, Enderal, was made from Skyrim
>In Fallout 4, someone made a 32bit arcade game within the game

We could do better

> [math] \mathbb{R} \subset \mathbb{C} [/math]
psst. sure kid

I had this idea early as an undergrad and took it pretty seriously, but abandoned it because I realized the concept was fundamentally flawed. Here's my experience:

My idea was for a game that was based around logic puzzles. Not speed drills to get you to do arithmetic quickly, and certainly no superfluous enemies or bosses, but basic logic puzzles and brain-teasers that "secretly" introduced the gamer to the clever side of math.

I noticed that I had a difficult time so much as articulating an example of such a puzzle, let alone where to begin. So I signed up to tutor some low-income 5th graders at a local high school in math. I'd teach them the basic arithmetic to reinforce what they were seeing in their classes, and if they had any free time I'd show them some puzzles that were more in the vein of the video game I had in mind. These included the Konigsberg Bridge Problem, showing them how to count up to 36 on their fingers by using base 6, and an illustration of a way to sum all the natural numbers less than or equal to n, the baby gauss formula i think it's called. Despite not having a computer at home, they were pretty sharp fifth graders and caught on to some of it alright.

Whenever we found ourselves in the library, though, they rushed to the computers and played a really mindless cannon game. When I pried them away they were pretty difficult to make any progress with. It was like their attention spans had halved.

That made me realize that every video game I've ever played has been based around primitive learning, quick action, and immediate reward. In Dark Souls, I don't use the parts of my brain that make me good at math to beat a boss - I use reflexes and muscle memory, which are for learning to hunt and fight. Even with puzzle games like 2048, the play is more by intuition than analytical strategy.

contd

So a video game based on logic puzzles that secretly introduced students to simple mathematical techniques like induction and the pigeonhole principle would not be based on quick action. Maybe it could have checked the primitive learning box by making the puzzles super intuitive, but that would probably make them suck - the gamer would rely completely on intuition, resort to trial and error without actually having learned anything, and quickly lose interest

I think that Kerbal Space Program has been very successful in introducing gamers to math by approaching it almost on accident. I haven't played it myself, but I know many people who have and do. The user gets so caught up in getting their spaceship to reach certain planets that they start reading up on rocket science OUTSIDE of the game. It doesn't force math on the gamer inside the game itself, as if it's an obstacle that must be passed, as if it had an obligation to live up to some marketing as being educational. Instead, the user recognizes its potential to solve their problem!

Definitely a good idea. There is a severe lacking of educational games and materials for college level math and above.


You aren't a teacher and you had one experience. If you have studied math at all you should know your singular experience (especially considering your lack of experience in engaging or teaching students at that level) is not representative of all people.

More importantly i know there are many out there who would appreciate such a game OP is suggesting, even if a small crowd.
OP it will take at least half a decade to develop a complete product, but i will certainly buy it if i ever see it.

>It doesn't force math on the gamer inside the game itself

So you admit that science and math at a high level can be taught in a video game, but you dont agree that the first idea that OP came to think of would be the best?

Sure, OP did lay out a definite or absolute plan but a broad outline, all of which you seem to agree with. So get off your anal and unnecessarily nitpicky high horse.
MAKE THE GAME OP!!

This.

A game that is centered around strategy and long term goals with long game turns has more affinity for incorporating math lessons. Intuitive games are the wrong approach

Skyrim fits the box as it has a quite large lifetime. The game is also diverse so people wouldn't get exhausted with the maths, they would chop off heads a lot too.

>learning complex numbers
>the end of the game
???

He has a point though. Puzzle games like 2048 aren't approached with strategy, it's just intuition... right?

You are confusing the point of the game. A game that allows you to solve puzzles using intuition is not the intent here. The intent is to provide mathematical knowledge in a playful and fantastic form. Just like there is games that teach you about history, this one will teach you maths.

No-one would play it because matheducation in the West is abysmal. Most people don't even understand quadratics.

>production costs are too high
check out /r/unity3D. Creating a very good video game can be done for free.

>So you admit that science and math at a high level can be taught in a video game, but you dont agree that the first idea that OP came to think of would be the best?
That's right, I think the approach he's outlining is very bad. But based on , OP is only posting this to inspire somebody else to do it. Should anyone try to make a video game to teach maths, he would need to fundamentally reconsider how he wants his game to be played, or not waste his time.

I use my experience tutoring 5th graders because I think it describes my point well - that the things that make most video games fun run contrary to the reasons I like math. We find tetris stimulating because it rewards primitive learning (idk what else to call it) immediately and trains us to do it with little conscious thought. A game like OP is describing would probably be better suited to training the gamer to memorize arithmetic until it's automatic, but won't do much for mathematical creativity, which requires a lot of conscious thought. We'd be fighting an enemy using reflexes and muscle memory, then get jolted out of that zone as soon as we're approached by anything requiring conscious concentration.

Yeah, most people muck about until they realize it's best to keep everything to one side, and the rest is as strategic as tetris

I'm guessing you meant to reply to me, and judging by your grammar you must be the OP.
The reason i'm talking about intuition so much is that it has to do with what makes most video games so fun, and follows from the play style you're describing, what with fighting enemies, exploring dungeons, and beating bosses.

There are lots of video games out there on lots of platforms that try to teach math, but the good ones aren't like what you describe.