TOS Review: Math Rider

Are you looking for an intelligent math game for kids?  Math Rider might be just what you're looking for!  From the Math Rider website:

 Your child is taken into a land of fantasy and quests. Living in the Land of Ray and riding a horse called Shadow, he or she will set out on various noble adventures. Riding across amazing, digitally matte-painted moving backdrops of distinct fantastic lands, they will accomplish their quest, be it finding magical flowers, returning gems to the elves or even rescuing a princess!

The game is played by entering the answers to basic math problems.  As the child practices their math facts, the horse and rider progress through the scenery.  There are no controls to worry about - the speed of the horse depends on how quickly the child answers the problems correctly.  There are different quests to work through, and a map that shows your child how far they have gotten.  Wonder Boy was very excited to share with us that he was halfway through his quest shortly after he started!  There is also a page where the parent can see how much the child has improved, areas they still need work on, and their "top challenges".  

I thought Math Rider was great.  The game uses positive reinforcement to encourage children to continue practicing.  There is no "dying" or other negative consequence when a problem is missed or answered wrongly.  I still have access to it for a little while, and I think I will make Wonder Boy continue using it.  I like the progress I see on his statistics page, and he needs a bit more work to have fully mastered the basic math facts.  However, once he had played it a few times, it kind of fell to the wayside.  Super Girl tried it out once, and while she was excited about the horse aspect of the game, I believe that she knows her math facts too well for it and was quickly bored.  I believe this game would be best for slightly younger children - mine are 10 and 12.

Math Rider can be purchased at www.mathrider.com.  It is available as a download for $47.  However, through February 15, it is on sale for $37!  A 30 day guarantee and free updates are included in the purchase.  Best of all, you can use Math Rider with multiple children for the same price!  Woo hoo!

***Note:  I received a trial access to Math Rider in exchange for my review through TOS Homeschool Crew.  All opinions are my own.