SumW0rdZ

Upon opening the application, the user is shown a Home screen that works in portrait mode only. The graphics are simple but effective and the layout intuitive. The ‘Home’ screen displays the three levels in the top left: Easy, Medium and Hard. The bottom right displays ‘Stats’, ‘Options’ and ‘Info’. There is also a ‘Choose Dice’ option in the bottom left. The developers may want to consider the application to be displayed in a landscape mode to support tablet devices in classrooms.

‘Info’ – At first without instruction, the application may seem complicated to play. However, the ‘How to Play’ instructions make the gameplay easy to follow. There are short videos too on the Apple App Store, Youtube and GKR Games website (gkrgames.co.uk) that explain clearly how the game plays in individual videos covering every aspect of the App.

‘Stats’ – This section of the app keeps track of the games that have been completed, medals awarded and current leader boards. This is ideal for keeping track of personal and student progression and well as being ideal for creating competition within the classroom environment. The developers may want to consider multiple user interfaces where an individual score of students can be retained and the device could be passed around the classroom.

‘Options’ – This enables the user to turn the sound on or off.

‘Choose Dice’ – Here the user can choose the number of sided dies from 6, 8, 10,12  and 20-sided dice. There are 4 dice displayed on the gameplay screen and the user selects here which combination of the different sided dice they believe will help get them the highest scores during play.

Once the user has chosen either the Easy, Medium or Hard levels they enter the gameplay. The Easy level tile values range from 1 to 20, the medium range from 1 to 30 and the hard level ranges from 1 to 50.

The developers can be congratulated on the vast array of categories they have provided. These include Capital Cities, Popular Words, States of America, Animals, Car Manufacturers, Countries, Elements, Football Teams, Famous Actors and Celebrities and many more. There are over 30 categories for the user to choose from. Some themes even have a knowledge board after each word giving you more information about the word and enabling the user to learn as they play.

Once the word appears the user can choose any of the dice as often as required to calculate the value shown on the tile. Mathematical symbols can be chosen to create an answer using the plus, minus, multiply or divide symbols. Multiple calculations can also be combined by using the bracket or squared symbols. 

Example: If the chosen word letter displays a value of 6 and the four random dice show the values 1,3,2,5 then choosing the dice with a 2 the multiplication symbol and the dice with the number 3 as on a normal calculator will give the desired result. If the calculations are correct, the tile turns green. If the calculation is incorrect, the screen will flash red and the user can try again. Once the word is completed, the score and reward is displayed; a medal if the score is better than or equal to the target or a lollipop if the score is less than the target. The targets are “weighted” such that users get a bigger score if they use the higher arithmetic symbols like brackets, divide and /or multiply than for simple addition and subtraction. This encourages the users to practice and become more confident and skilled in their number computations There are four words in a game.

We like the feature of the ‘credit’ bomb where the user can call upon a help option to complete the tiles when struggling.

After each word is completed, a score is calculated based on the time saved (Time Bonus), the mathematical symbols used (BODMAS) and a Multiplier recording how many letters were computed at the first attempt. To achieve the highest score, the user should use speed and accuracy and try to use as many of the mathematical symbols as possible. During the game, if you hit the target score for each word you will achieve four medals which wins the user a Medal Shield. If you miss the target for each word you will get four lollipops instead which awards you a Lollipop Shield.

Medals, shields, trophies and scores are displayed in the STATS option. We did find that the scoring system was slightly over-complicated for this application although we did enjoy the rewards that kept us highly motivated.

We certainly enjoyed playing ‘SumW0rdZ’ and it was refreshing to see an application where the content was plentiful and the user could learn an array of skills from Maths to English to General Knowledge. The ability to have multiple users would be beneficial in a classroom situation where competition could be pursued. Sometimes the layout and content of these types of application can be cluttered and complicated. The user interface is intuitive and younger users can use the application unsupported. The application has real educational value teaching users to problem solve using mathematical symbols and equations along with supporting literacy and spelling.

‘SumW0rdZ’ is a good application and comes recommended by The Educational App Store.

You can download SumW0rdZ on your iOS devices from the Apple App Store.