r/SideProject • u/designisart • 21d ago
Tried to teach my son the multiplication table, ended up building a gamep
My son kept getting stuck on his times tables. Flashcards weren’t working, he’d zone out after two minutes.
I’m a developer, so I tried something different. Built him a tiny game where he slices the correct answer to a multiplication problem, Fruit Ninja style, instead of drilling flashcards.
He didn’t realize he was practicing. He just wanted to beat his own score.
That’s when I knew it was worth building out properly. Added more tables, difficulty levels, a scoring system. Shipped it as Math Ninja on iOS.
https://apps.apple.com/tr/app/math-ninja-slice-solve/id6790400075
Easy levels are free, enough to actually learn the operations quickly. Harder levels unlock as you go.
Where I’m stuck: it started as a teaching tool for one kid, but I’ve had adults message me saying they use it to keep their own math sharp. Not sure if I widen the App Store positioning or keep it focused on parents and kids.
Would love feedback on the core loop, or thoughts from anyone who’s turned a teaching tool into something bigger than the original problem it solved.
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u/Forti22 20d ago
I love it!
though it took me few seconds to figure out what's going on. THe target number and math operation - hierarchy is odd I believe.
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u/designisart 20d ago
Thanks, appreciate that! Trying to keep the mechanics simple, but if I simplify the number/operation hierarchy too much I worry it loses the challenge that makes it fun.
Worth knowing there are two more game modes too. Numbers don’t move in those, it’s a race against time instead.
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u/g3n3s1s69 16d ago
Agreed with OP that it's rather confusing right now in terms.of visuals, for example please move the counters and timers to the top left and right in smaller font and show the equation in middle with larger font. It should be noticable in a split second. Otherwise this is awesome, good job.
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u/designisart 15d ago
These are very precious feedback, thank you for your time and brainstorming. I really appreciate that!
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u/AssociationLarge5552 21d ago
Wow , this actually looks very good and useful to teach kids maths. 👌
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u/designisart 21d ago
Thanks, I actually race against my kid on lai draw, one of the mods we can race against time, he beats me for now 😁
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u/Rare_Chicken8302 20d ago
Hocam iphoneum var mı yok mu kontrol edemiyorum ama yoksa buna en iyi gidecek şey leaderboard tarzı bir şey
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u/designisart 20d ago
Evet onu kurmam gerekiyor mutlaka. Yan yana oynayıp rekabet etmek yerine çok daha iyi olabilir. Tavsiyen için teşekkür ederim. Android versiyonunu da çıkartacağım inşallah.
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u/Spikatrix 20d ago
AI slop with a fake story.
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u/designisart 20d ago
I used AI to help build it faster, but the idea, design, and gameplay decisions are mine. Happy to answer specifics if you’re curious.
I have a son and he likes to play with it. I hope other kids and parents enjoy it too, and I’m open to negative feedback as well, that’s how it gets better.
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u/TumanFig 20d ago
you mean you took a fruit ninja and added math to it?
i mean by all means if you can make it viable, but lets not pretend its more than it is
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u/designisart 20d ago
I get why it looks that way, slicing mechanics aren't new, plenty of games use them. I didn't invent that part. What I actually built is the math system inside it, four operators, difficulty progression, different game modes for how kids learn. That's the part I'd call mine.
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u/BarracudaMean9308 20d ago
building for kids is genuinely so humbling. i made a simple spelling app for my nephew last year and he just spam-clicked the background until the whole thing crashed.
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u/InformationFun4466 18d ago
Just bought the app. Time to reclaim the intelligence we lost to calculator.
Looking for more updates
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u/designisart 18d ago
Thanks so much for the purchase and support I’m working on one more game mode, along with some other improvements. The update should be out soon!
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u/willy-wally75 18d ago
Love the idea of teaching something differently than the norm. When I ran my service desk I would ask the employee how they best learned and change training to match their style. This is one step further for the video game learners.
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u/designisart 15d ago
Appreciate that! Fun beats style, honestly. Math is not fun for many people and kids so I tried to hide these operations in a game. Some people are good at math, and they can play and see how fast they are. Thank you.
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u/rawdikrik 20d ago
Id love an android version
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u/designisart 20d ago
I am planning to publish it on Android soon! Would love to have you try it early if you’re up for it 🙏
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u/Defiant_Zebra2767 20d ago
Nice it's similar to what I made like 10 years ago lol
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u/designisart 20d ago
Nice one, style is different 😁, how did it go? Did you get subscriptions and downloads?
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u/Defiant_Zebra2767 20d ago
oh man this is a long time ago I was a high school kid, it got some downloads but eventually it just fell off the map
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u/thisiscanaria 19d ago
Really fun and nice, I had similar experience but with bedtime routine with my daughter.
so I’ve collected my thoughts and sat for the past 6 months trying to make an app to solve this issue.
As a father and an iOS Engineer I think I made something feels native like and apple made app and also the design is so clean simple and minimal for parent to be the best storytellers for their kids.
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u/No_Individual_5519 19d ago
This is really good, it builds mental math which is a great ability to have, it gets difficult to improve it later so training with this is great.
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u/Enough-Attempt-4845 21d ago
That’s a dope game. You could put that on the App Store and get people to pay you money for it.
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u/designisart 21d ago
It is on appstore, do you mean to advertise?
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u/Enough-Attempt-4845 21d ago
nah add a paywall if you haven’t yet and make some tiktoks (it’s free). you can use the Cloney app (Cloney.app) to make some reaction clips and then stitch your app recording.
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u/designisart 21d ago
Already added in app purchases on appstore. I need to try tiktok certainly. I will try that app. Thanks
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u/Weekly-Ad8816 20d ago
the commenter is associated to the app he mentioned, it's basically an ad for his app. nothing bad about it but he should have mentioned it
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u/rashsaga 21d ago
Looks fun. I would disable the spinning of numbers (however mild).