Math Runner, 2023
Deniz Celik, Firat Sarsar

Content Development

The content development phase focused on creating a hypercasual game, aligned with the most popular mobile game genre in Turkey. The game challenges students to identify missing values in numerical arithmetic patterns by determining the rule governing each pattern. As players advance through the levels, they encounter increasingly complex patterns, starting with increments of two and progressing to increments of three, four, five, and ten.

Game Design and Development

This game is designed to help 2nd graders practice recognizing patterns. Visually, it features colorful and non-gendered designs to appeal to all students. The game was developed using the Unity engine, version 2021.3.24f1, and coded in C#. It consists of a single scene with three levels for each learning objective, totaling four levels. If the player selects the wrong option, a sad face emoji appears accompanied by a sad sound. The game restarts, and the player continues playing until they exhaust their three lives. As the levels progress, both the speed of the game and the number of obstacles increase.

Prototype Testing

At this stage, the game is tested by the target audience, and any errors are corrected afterward. Before the game testing, participants were given brief information about the game. The game was conducted online in a computer science classroom using Raspberry Pi mini computers with the Pi OS operating system and the Chromium browser. Students played the game online via the web. Additionally, observations were made before, during, and after the test, and an observation form was completed. The second game test was conducted with the same target audience, in the same computer science classroom, and on the same computers. There was a two-week interval between the first and second game tests. During this time, the researcher made the necessary adjustments to the game.

Adjustments

• Character models were changed.

• A tutorial section was added.

• The number of obstacles throughout the game was reduced.

• The number of questions in the game was reduced.

• The camera angle was zoomed in.

• Three- and four-digit number patterns were removed from the game.

• The font size of the numbers in the patterns was increased.

• The game screen size was expanded.

In conclusion, based on the findings presented under the two research questions, it can be said that the game developed for the topic of patterns positively contributed to students' motivation to learn mathematics. The game is believed to have a positive effect on retention in learning, as the lesson content remained in students' minds after playing the game. It was observed that students easily progressed through the initial levels of the game, which moved from simple to complex and from easy to difficult, but struggled with the patterns in the more challenging levels. 

Evaluation

In conclusion, the game developed for the topic of patterns positively contributed to students' motivation to learn mathematics. The game could to have a positive effect on retention in learning, as the lesson content remained in students' minds after playing the game. It was observed that students easily progressed through the initial levels of the game, which moved from simple to complex and from easy to difficult, but struggled with the patterns in the more challenging levels. This suggests that the Math Runner may support students in learning at their own pace.