This is great fun!
A really simple idea, well executed, this online game asks you a simple maths question and offers two possible solutions. All you have to do is click on the right answer to get the next question and start progressing up the levels. Get a question wrong, and its game over.
But, to make matters more “interesting,” you only have a finite amount of time to answer each question and a repetitive (and slightly annoying) sound track plays, ramping up the pressure.
Its great fun to play individually, but I have used it as a class challenge – it works really well on the Interactive Whiteboard and I invite a pupil up to have a go. When they make a mistake or complete a level they sit down and another student takes their place on the hot spot. After a set amount of time, or when everyone’s had a go, we see to what level the class has reached and this is their target for next time.
What I really like about this game is, as the levels get harder, it encourages pupils to develop strategies for swift mental arithmetic and processing – often you don’t need to work out the exact answer, but just which one could be the answer. The time questions are a great example of this, looking for shortcuts to a solution: that’s being mathematical – and doing it under pressure, too!
Visit the site (link below), play the game yourself, try it with your classes and let me know what you think in the comments section.
Good Luck!