My Newest Game, NUMBER ROUND-UP Is Ready for Testing

UPDATE:

The games in this post have been moved. You'll find the latest versions of my games at the Logical Game Studio.

I've been working obsessively on this game. Lots of fun to code and (I hope) to play. Number Round-Up runs on Safari on the iPad and in most computer browsers.
It's not completely done, but I'd love to have you try it out. All critique and suggestions are welcome.

http://logicalgames.co/NumberRoundUp

I haven't set up a form to receive reports on testing this time. But, I'd very much appreciate any response by email. thelogicalwoman@gmail.com

Like Marble Factory, Number Round-Up is a cooperative game for two players using one iPad (touch) or computer (keyboard  arrow keys and mouse).

Number Round-Up includes 3 activities at 4 levels.
I hope you'll try each type of game: Practice, Round-Up, Ribbons Round.
The Challenge Level (Level 4) can be customized. Click the menu button to see the customization page.

Please, first take a look at Marble Factory if you haven't already seen it.
http://logicalgames.co/MarbleFactory

Some concepts of sorting into sets are presented in Marble Factory which provide background to playing Number Round-Up. So, kids who have already played Marble Factory will understand much about Number Round-Up without a lot of instructions.

Please note that some usability tests of Marble Factory have shown me that several basic changes need to be made to that game and I plan to work on those soon. Meanwhile, I've incorporated those suggestions into this game.

Public thanks to my sister, Jan, who has been tirelessly testing this game for weeks.

More information for those who like reading long blogs:

Number Round-Up is the next of several games I'm working on to help kids learn logic, attributes and sets.

Because I always tried to help my young math students become logical thinkers, my first learning objectives for these games are these 3:
1. Observation of attributes, similarities and differences of things (in this case some marbles) then, in Number Round-Up moving on to the attributes, similarities and differences of numbers.
2. Introduction to set theory including cardinality, intersections and empty sets.
3. Gaining clarity in the logic terms: and, or, both, neither, not.

Number Round-Up can also provide practice in multiplication facts and factoring.

These are cooperative games and I hope that lots of thinking together and conversation between the players as they work as a team to win will enhance the learning.

The ability to customize a challenge will allow kids, teachers, parents to focus in on what needs practicing. I plan to allow multiple challenges to be saved, but currently you can only save one.

Should you come up with a challenge that you think is especially useful, I'll share those ideas around.

Thanks for your interest and for testing Number Round-Up!

 Marcia
 The Logical Woman

My Venn Diagram / Logic Game Needs Testers

Update:  Marble Factory now runs on iPad

logicalgames.co/MarbleFactory/Marbles.php

I've been taking the next edX MIT class in the game design series. This one is "Design and Development of Games for Learning".

For this class, I've prototyped a game that will be part of a series of logic games I've been thinking through for some time.

This one is a Venn diagram game called "Marble Factory".  So far, I've coded two levels for Marble Factory.  I've worked through several prototypes, done technical testing and some play testing with classmates online. Now I'm ready for some user testing.

I want to get feedback from as many testers as I can. I plan to make adjustments to the game based on that feedback. Then, I'll continue with the next levels of the game.

How to test Marble Factory:

          1. Try the Marble Factory Discovery Level:

https://gameblox.org/play/7049/

          2. Play the real game, Marble Factory Game 1: 

This game can be played by one or two players (cooperating, not competing).

https://gameblox.org/play/7137/

          3. Most important! Give me feedback on your experience playing. Fill in this Google Form:
 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zBELr5GEAkeBV485zIU_VmzbFWpgVhsKJ0OZpd0PHfU/viewform

Please note: Due to limitations in the MIT Gameblox language, the games don't work on touchscreens yet. You'll need a mouse and keyboard to play.

What is this supposed to teach?
Because I always tried to help my young math students become logical thinkers, these are my learning objectives for this game:
1. Observation of attributes, similarities and differences of things (in this case some marbles) then, in the next game moving on to the attributes, similarities and differences of numbers.
2. Introduction to set theory including cardinality, intersections and empty sets.
3. Gaining clarity in the logic terms: and, or, both, neither, not.

I'm moving from Gameblox (MIT's game editor) to HTML5 for future iterations. And, that's where I'll be making changes based on your feedback.

In their final form, these games will be playable by two people, playing cooperatively.  The player's conversation about planning and strategy will provide powerful reinforcement for real learning.

Thanks for your interest and for testing Marble Factory!

Marcia
The Logical Woman