Marble Math Junior Review

Marble Math Junior is a really enjoyable universal math app that will engage children.

The basic game play of Marble Math is quite simple as children drag or roll a marble to the corresponding answers to varied math and related questions through a maze, sometimes avoiding pitfalls or rolling over bonus objects as well. Topics include simple addition, equivalences using items such as numbers and dice and sequencing or shape recognition.

Children will enjoy the bright colors this app includes, such as the bright orange background of these mazes, fun upbeat musical elements and other sound effects, as well as the utterly satisfying rolling sound of these marbles, encouraging children to practice their math skills.

I am fond of how many options are available to personalize this experience such as the ability to drag the marble with a finger or pick up the device and tilt it like the classic labyrinth game.

Three levels of difficulty can also be chosen, and parents can also choose what types of questions to focus on, while children can create their own avatars by sliding to choose different hair/hat and eyes and mouth choices - a fun inclusion that allows different players to keep their games separate.

I also really appreciate how the instructions for each maze can be tapped to be hear, allowing children who are not yet reading to work with this application as well as giving children a chance to re-try problems they got wrong, a chance to be shown the correct answer with a tap, as well as the ability to skip questions if they feel the need.

Score is kept, not for correct answers exactly, as the score can also be impacted positively or negatively by the additional details found within these mazes or just momentarily complicate the rolling of the marble by such things as slipping on goo or sliding on a banana.

Each game is also relatively short - great for modest attention spans, although children will most likely play round after round, as the tactile nature of this app will be mildly reminiscent to some of an arcade game, without any over-stimulating aspects parents may want to avoid, yet with just enough pinball elements to make me smile.

Marble Math Jr may not actually teach children how to count or perform addition, but this is a very nice app to encourage children to practice the skills they have already acquired - be it pre-math skills like shape recognition or simple addition.

Do note that a related app, Marble Math, is also available with the same gameplay but includes a more advanced selection of questions including fractions, Roman numerals and the adding and subtracting of two digit numbers in the easy level, as well as tackling multiplication, division and more in the more difficult sections.

Marble Math also includes more sophisticated obstacles to keep older children and even adults interested as they work on their math skills.

Marble Math Junior and Marble Math are both apps that make practicing math skills quite enjoyable. For this reason, I recommend them both depending on the age and skill level of the player.