When we started out, we thought we’d focus mainly on the commercial math games out there. The reason for that was that most free online games offer so little in terms of variety and gameplay that most normal children will not play them for very long (by their own free will), if at all.
However, we found one that we feel is worth pointing out and reviewing here. It’s called Arcademic Math Games and in my opinion offers a nice alternative to the commercial Mathletics site.
Arcademics Math Games Website
The Arcademic Math Games site has a nice inviting look to it, is easy to navigate and requires no login.
Arcademic Skill Builders Home Page
The site provides (at current count) 29 games. Ten of them are language games and the rest are math games. Now, to tell the truth, there are really only two types of games there – one is single player, where you have a number in your vehicle and you need to shoot it at the correct problem. This same game comes in a variety of graphics and settings (addition or division, etc), but the game play is always the same. This is the typical kind of free online game you get pretty much everywhere. HOWEVER….
It’s like Mathletics for Free
Where the site shines though is the other kind of game available – not because the games are so totally brilliant, but because they are multi-player. Yep, you get to play against multiple other people on the internet in a game of math. If not enough players are found, you get to compete against one or more computer-controlled players.
The effect is really quite the same as the commercial mathletics games. Kids get a huge buzz when they compete against other kids in real time.
Game play involves choosing the correct answer to a problem from four possible answers faster than your competitors. This game mode is basically (in my humble opinion) the biggest selling factor for mathletics, and here you get it for free, anytime you like without even needing to pay or even register.
Now, I don’t quite like the fact that you pick an answer rather than typing it in as you would in mathletics, but on the plus side, the games at Arcademic are actually visually more attractive.
Multiplication Grand Prix - prettier than Mathletics
To be clear, in contrast to Mathletics, the free Arcademics site does NOT allow your child to:
- create their own login profile
- collect points and awards over time
- go through basic math lessons online
It does however collect and display daily high scores and you get to print out any trophies you win.
Worth checking it out, right?
Click here to visit Arcademic Math Games/.
BTW, our favorites are
Grand Prix Multiplication and Jet-Ski Addition
If you want more, be sure to look at the best commercial math games – they are reviewed right here on this site!
It always amazes me how people can try to dress up something as being “fun” when by its very nature it is not. Just get your kids to get through math and hopefully later on in life they will do something more interesting.
Well done for discovering a free high quality online maths game. I too have avoided reviewing free online games on my Maths Insider website due to their poor quality compared to the paid games.
I can see Kenny’s point about trying to make maths artificially fun. With my own children I try to select daily work that is interesting but also work that they can finish in a relatively short time (20 mins) and then go and have some real fun! I love maths, but given the choice of solving quadratic equations (my favourite type of maths question) or watching a great movie or reading a good book, the movie and book would win every time!
For some people math is fun, so math is not boring by nature…. there are some people that like it and some people that don’t.,… but all people use math everyday to solve problems… because math is not about subtracting, adding or making complex operations… its about generalization of ideas, solving problems, logic, abstraction… its a way of thinking…
by the way, sorry about my english… i speak spanish… 😀