Number Devil, The
© 2004 Viva Media
Designed in Europe and nicely localized in the US, this is a clever set of math tutorials created to help children think about math in innovative ways. For example, kids are shown how to visualize number patterns in number lines (think about hopping along a number line), or how to notice patterns when squaring numbers. The Devil is actually a clever math coach that appears in a young boy's math nightmare, showing him tricks to better understand the foundations of numbers, all the while making math less of a worry. After the tutorial, which is illustrated with beautiful watercolor drawings, there is an adventure game designed to let a child try out new concepts in a stress-free fashion, while progress is tracked. At any point, a child can "wake up" and leave the program (games are automatically saved). Additional content includes a glossary of terms, and biographies of key European mathematicians such as Pythagorus and Pascal. This is a refreshingly different approach to Americanized math techniques, and for this very reason, it makes sense for a US student to try. Created by Hans Magnus Enzensberger in Macromedia Director. Originally published by Terzio in Germany; localized in the US by Viva Media.
$29.99, Win XP, Mac OSX, Mac OS9
Teaches: math, place value, roman numerals, addition, subtraction, prime numbers, fractions