Sumaze and Sumaze 2 are free mathematics apps available in the Google Play Store or for iOs. The games and the graphics are simple but elegant. Players start with a number tile, and must move the tile through a maze by flicking the screen in the appropriate direction. As users ascend levels, other tiles are added to the maze with operations and numbers on them. It becomes your goal to not only get your tile to the end of the maze, but to make sure it is equivalent to a particular answer before you try to slide it into the final exit space that will trigger the next level. Mental math and logic are essential to solving the puzzles as multiple operation tiles start sprinkling your screen and you have to choose the operations to use as well as when to use them.
This is not a game with avatars, XP’s, or any other kind of trendy gaming elements, but it is a good game that will challenge math lovers from ages 7 and up. It reminds me of two other excellent (and free) mathematics apps that I highly recommended awhile ago: MathSquared and MathScaled. Students with a passion for math enjoy apps like these – and sometimes those who don’t enjoy math finally discover its appeal.
