Addnum Review

Addnum, much like its name, it quick and to the point. You have a six-by-six grid of random, single digit numbers. You also have a randomly assigned target number, usually somewhere around 15-40 or so. Selecting only one digit from each row, players have to add numbers (ah! See? There’s the name!) until the target is reached. Then a new grid is generated, along with a new target, and the whole thing begins again, with players trying to clear as many boards as possible before the countdown timer expires.

Simple. Quick. Fun. Just what we like games of this type to be.

Addnum sports three different difficulties. Low Mode is the standard game. Pro Mode reverses or flips some of the numbers in order to make swift recognition more difficult. Ultra Mode is like Pro Mode, except for one crucial difference: in the other two modes players can continue changing their picked numbers, with the game only moving forward to the next board after the correct target has been reached. Ultra Mode, on the other hand, takes no prisoners and forgives no mistakes. As soon as the last number has been selected, if the sum is incorrect, it’s an instant Game Over. Who would have thought math could be so merciless! Thankfully, the running total at the bottom of the screen means players can easily keep track of where they are, but with the countdown timer still running; it adds an extra layer of tension to each round’s rush to clear as many grids as possible.

There aren’t many frills in Addnum, but there don’t really need to be. It is totally ad-free and the interface is simple and clean. If anything, I could maybe complain the game is a little too barren looking, but that seems petty because the game itself it swift, tense, and quite enjoyable. Maybe if you have a really bad aversion to shades of blue or green then you might find greater issue with the interface, but beyond that Addnum is great for some quick number puzzling fun.