DragonBox

DragonBox
Developer(s)	WeWantToKnow AS
Publisher(s)	WeWantToKnow AS
Programmer(s)	Zoran Popovic
Platform(s)	iOS, Android
Release	May 9, 2012
Genre(s)	Educational game
Mode(s)	Single-player

DragonBox is an educational game series developed and published by WeWantToKnow AS, a Norwegian studio. DragonBox Algebra was released on May 9, 2012 for iOS.^[1] It was created to teach children math, such as algebra.

The game won a 2016 Games For Change award for "Best Learning Game",^[2] and received positive reception from critics, who praised the efficacy of the app.

Gameplay[]

The game has five "worlds" with twenty levels each, and beating each level allows the dragons that the player possesses to grow into a new, more advanced form.^[3] To beat each level, the player must play a puzzle minigame in which they organize cards on two trays.^[3] While the cards are initially icons of various creatures and objects, the game uses them to abstractly demonstrate mathematical equations before later replacing them with variables and numbers.^[3] The player gets bonus stars if they complete the level in as few moves as possible, and with as few cards left as possible.^[3]

Development[]

The co-founder and CEO of the game's studio is Jean-Baptiste Huyhn, a former math teacher who was frustrated with the way math was taught in schools and wanted to teach it in a way that made more sense to children.^[3] He started the We Want to Know studio with the goal of making educational games that were actually fun to play.^[3] The game was programmed by Zoran Popovic, a computer scientist who also created the video game Foldit.^[4]

Reception[]

The game received positive reception from critics, with Jonathan H. Liu of Wired commenting on how his children "loved" the game despite its heavy mathematical focus.^[3] He stated that it "makes algebra so fun and easy to learn that my kids fight over who gets to play it".^[3] Stephanie Fogel of Gamasutra called the game something every developer should study, quoting Nicholas Fortugno saying the educational elements are "elegant and hidden, the way good educational games should be".^[5]

Ann Elliott of Edudemic called the game "intuitive" and user-friendly.^[6] Adam Renfro of Getting Smart called the game "a shining example [...] of what gamification should look like".^[7] Jordan Shapiro in Forbes said he was "astonished" at how quickly his son learned algebraic equations, and was blown away.^[8]

References[]