Math Missions Grades K-2 With Free Math Card Game

I bought this game for some extra math practice in the summer. My six-year-old is a math whiz (she is already doing basic multiplication and division in her head), and enjoys playing the medium and hard levels of the game. My 4-year-old doesn't read yet, but can do most of the easy level problems. The game reads all of the instructions out loud, so he just has to listen carefully to the task.

I like the fact that you can install the game on the hard drive and all your progress is saved, and it supports multiple players. Each completed task earns money for the players to use in the arcade, which only becomes available after the player has completed every task at least once. You can complete the tasks in any order, and revisit any task at any time. There is a map on the help screen to keep track of which tasks have been completed. The arcade games are also somewhat educational, testing memory (Monster Memory Match resembles the electronic Simon game), visual perception (Bug Bomber is a lot like Bejeweled), and eye-hand coordination(Big Top Bounce is like Break Away).

The games include:
1. Filling orders at a toy store, learning place value and borrowing
2. Completing window patterns on the skyscraper, much like tangrams
3. Sorting animals at a pet store based on number of legs, color, or pattern
4. Selecting items at a bulk grocery store, testing greater or less than; small, medium, and large; and equivalent quantities
5. Filling candy orders with the right number of each candy (and at the higher levels, choosing the right size box to fill)
6. Sorting pies, which uses basic multiplication and division
7. Making smoothies, correctly measuring ingredients
8. Weighing fish, comparing different weight combinations
9. Measuring fruits and vegetables, using a ruler and comparing lengths
10. Riding the bus, counting out exact change
11. Riding the subway, finding the correct stop number
12. Riding the ferry, setting the clock to the correct time

The game is full of animations to explain every task or thank you for helping out. Fortunately, you can skip over any animation by hitting the Escape key. There is a help icon in the corner if you need extra information for any task. All in all, my kids really like it, and it seems like a good way to reinforce some basic math skills. I like it enough that I am planning to purchase the version for grades 3-5, as well.

Math Missions is an okay investment. It doesn't do what I needed it to do which is basic addition. The easy levels are too easy and the next level jumps to 3 digit addition. Where is the kindergarten and 1st grade addition and subtraction problems? The way it is set up is not straightfroward...I can't believe this is the best they can do these days.
Another problem is that you have to complete things in each area/shop/etc before you can "go to the arcade". The problem is it doesn't say how many time or how much you need to do in each part, so a child can't figure out exactly what needs to be done.
There is no way a K or 1st grader can navigate alone. My daughter is pretty computer savy and she kept asking for help.
However, It is better than a regular video game. I have yet to find a game that has basic addition subtraction that is not boring.

I was a little nervous about buy this at first. Then when my 4 year old boy who is very bright and a computer whiz got a hold of it he just loves it. Almost every day we have to pry him off to come eat. My son loves computer games like first person mystery, shooter, and platform games and I thought that he might get bored with this game. What a surprise to me when he likes playing it more then his platform and shooter games. He has had this for 3 weeks and has now moved on to lvl 2 of all the games. There are 3 lvls for every game. Each lvl requires different ways to solve a problem and makes the game that more fun. The game is full of happy, positive reinforcement animation, and funny little things that you can do while playing the game. We love it and will buy the 3-5 grade probably in a few months for him. I have seen a huge difference in my sons eagerness to learn math with everything around him. He just can't get enough. Now I need to find a game as wonderful as this one for reading. Oh and my son will be in Kindergarten this coming school year in 2010. He is going to rock at math.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 14 reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars