What more could you ask for really?
In this free iThing zombie shoot-em-up, you shoot the zombies, collect ammo and health packs by solving the simple equation atop your target. Different levels have different classes of maths problems (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), and different levels of difficulty.
I let my 5 year old play this for about 15 minutes yesterday and could not believe how much quicker he was at mental arithmetic by the end of it.
Because the problems associated with the zombies change each time you play a level, though stay in the same class and difficulty level, you can replay the same level over and over to suit the player’s ability, rather than being forced to move on a level, and it still sustains interest.
Screen layout changes on iPhone (numbers along edges) and iPad (number pad bottom centre) to make the numbers easier to reach, which is a nice touch.
Only problem I had with it is that you can wind up with multiple items on screen at the same time that have the same solution, and you don’t get a say in which of them gets shot/picked up, so the zombies will sometimes get you because you pick up ammo instead of shooting. This led to one or two moments of frustration for the small person.
Still, it’s fun in small doses and definitely has an educational outcome.
Thanks for the tip. Strategies for surviving the Zombie apocolypse may be just as useful ad maths in the future! I know an 8 year old that will be obsessed!