The Runner Quiz : Tables

With the renewed focus on the learning of the multiplication tables, children are having to spend more time practising them.  Reciting out loud and testing have been the traditional ways of doing this but, as generations of schoolchildren will attest, it has never been fun.   

The Runner Quiz: Tables adds some game-like presentation and challenges to times-table practice.  Children will, in essence, still be mentally reciting and being tested on the multiplication tables but within a more entertaining activity.  Children guide their runner to success along a track beset by times tables.  Players choose the correct answer by selecting the lane that contains the correct answer.  A wrong choice ends the current run by showing the correct answer while the correct one lets the player continue to build scores, coins, and keys.

The app goes to great effort to match children's expectations of games.  Gameplay mechanics such as collecting keys and coins add a familiar feel to the challenge.  The runners are more like skimmers gliding along on rocket-powered fidget spinners adding another nod to children's current interests.  Rewards can be earned and spent on cosmetic upgrades and new worlds unlocked.

As with most such apps, it can never quite be a game in children's eyes but students do show a strong preference for practising maths in this way rather than worksheets and oral tests.  In this regard, The Runner Quiz : Tables is as good as you can hope for.  

The app is very attractive to look at.  Smooth 3D graphics portray the track and the various objects as the runner powers into the screen.  Simple swipes direct the runner from one lane to another.  Music and sound effects play over the top of the action and add to the atmosphere.  

The app could use a little more polish in some of its text as there are the odd typo and strange sentence structure.  This is a maths app and the maths is perfectly accurate so this does not alter the app's usefulness in this regard and nor does it make the app difficult to use, it will just be a little distracting for players.

You might be a little surprised to see that as well as being an app that you pay to download, it mentions in-app purchases.  These are completely optional.  The app can (and should) be played through in the order its designers intended unlocking stages as you go.  However, should you wish to unlock the whole thing in advance you can pay the in-app purchase price.  There really is no need to do this but it might be a useful option for teachers who wish to start a child off on a higher level for a quick practise exercise.

It does not matter how children build their fluency in the multiplication tables as long as they do so.  You may have other apps that help and also rely on the more traditional methods.  But, variety keeps children's attention.  The Runner Quiz : Tables is a good option to add another way to keep children's interest in progressing in maths.

You can download The Runner Quiz : Tables on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the The Runner Quiz : Tables app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.