To me, video games are visual/audio sensory theaters that engage our brains in ways very difficult to replicate in real life. Take my old green friend, the Number Muncher, for example.
Watching him traverse the vast electronic grid on his evolutionarily questionable little green feet, chasing down and devouring numerical expressions to the sounds of 8-bit electronic gusto, while being chased in turn by a roving band of nameless numerical cannibalistic nightmares known collectively as the troggles; anyone with an ounce of humanity (or PETA membership) is left with no other choice: you must do the math! Replicating such a dire threat in real life is impossible. Math doesn’t kill people—people kill people.
Watching him traverse the vast electronic grid on his evolutionarily questionable little green feet, chasing down and devouring numerical expressions to the sounds of 8-bit electronic gusto, while being chased in turn by a roving band of nameless numerical cannibalistic nightmares known collectively as the troggles; anyone with an ounce of humanity (or PETA membership) is left with no other choice: you must do the math! Replicating such a dire threat in real life is impossible. Math doesn’t kill people—people kill people.
Compared to Number Munchers, flashcard games have the visual/audio appeal of a battery-powered shower radio. The visual stimulus is sub-par: Arabic numerals in dull blue ink scrawled out hastily on square white index cards. The only sound to latch onto is the sound of your own, tremulous, 8-year old voice reciting the addition problem followed by what you hope and pray (you’ve made the mistake of crossing your fingers before) is the correct sum. An electronic stopwatch on your tutor’s fancy smartphone offers a modicum of technical delight, but nothing that compares to the integrated world of Number Munchers.
It is with this understanding that I brought my old friend back from the edge of oblivion. I installed an MS-DOS emulator, loaded up a freeware version of the old classic downloaded off the internet, and let Billy loose! The game is a great way to keep Billy’s five senses engaged in math, and the best part is that it doubles as a highly effective 8-bit carrot of oppression.
As needed.
As needed.
I'm surprised someone hasn't made an online flash version of the game yet.
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