Arithmekids

By Siem Jongsma, Jack Li, Nikki Rademaker, Amarise Silié, and Yanna Smid

Overview

Arithmekids is a playful educational game made for the course Software Development. The goal was to create a program for children aged 7-9 to practice arithmetic skills. We created the entire game using Pygame. Yanna Smid and I drew all the visuals in Procreate ourselves. The game offers three modes: Levels, Timer, and Multiplayer.

The assignment was to create a complete program using an agile development process. In Arithmekids, children can solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems. The program encourages them to improve by unlocking new worlds, beating their own scores, or playing against friends.

There are three different game modes.

• Levels: solve questions and unlock different worlds. Each world has a different theme and music.
• Timer Mode: solve as many questions as possible in 60 seconds. Choose between easy, medium, or hard difficulty.
• Multiplayer: play against a friend. Players take turns solving questions and lose lives when answering incorrectly.

For the timer mode, players can decide which levelty of difficulty they want to play and practice in.

Technical Development

We programmed the full game in Python using Pygame. Each mode was built with its own features and interface. We added background music, moving elements, and unlockable content. Saving progress and resetting progress were also implemented. Testing was done manually because the game was mostly visual.

Reflection

Working on Arithmekids taught us a lot about game development, teamwork, and working with Scrum. We learned to combine programming, drawing, and design. If we had more time, we would have added a moving character on the map and full saving inside levels. Still, the game works as intended and provides a fun way for kids to practice arithmetics.