Let’s cut to the chase – I think our weekly newsletters can be more interesting. If you didn’t know, now you know. Where does that phrase – “Let’s cut to the chase” mean, anyway and why do we say that? It means to get to the point and it comes […]
AnnMaria De Mars
Confess! Do all of you people have early morning meetings, before I am awake, planning how to irritate me? We have been focused on letting as many people as possible know about our games, including our new release, Forgotten Trail. We write blogs, have a mailing list, exhibit at events, […]
Excuse me, I must be really stupid
1 If you read the first post, you know the task was to create an activity where a player answers math problems and earns math items for the farm. The purpose of these first four posts was to create a page that looks like 5 (or 10) pages but is actually […]
Reusable code, part 4: html & css
1 To refresh your memory  – this particular activity gives the player a new item – cat, duck, goat, etc. , for their farm – for every math problem answered correctly. Obviously, this code can be re-used for any type of problem and any type of game where you collect objects, […]
Game Design: Re-usable code, part 3
After spending almost all of the last 2 months traveling to conferences, school site visits and investor meetings, I am SO happy to be back in Santa Monica! Now that I am planted in the office again, game changes are just rolling out. Sometimes I get discouraged when it seems as […]
Never Underestimate Us
A few years ago, I happened to be in Vermont on a tour of the Ben and Jerry’s factory because, hello, ice cream! When our tour guide told the story about the company, there were lots of oohs from the audience about the romantic American dream story of the early […]
Let’s Kill the Myth of the Entrepreneur
I feel sad for people who have never been told they are anything extraordinary. How do you know you can’t do something amazing if you never try? Small towns in Florida to small towns in North Dakota are full of people like Sam and Angie in the game, Forgotten Trail. […]
You Don’t HAVE TO be born in a small town ...
1 Guest post by Willie Davis, Turtle Mountain Ojibwe The Metis people are a mix of indigenous and European ancestry, and growing up in two cultures is never easy. When I was a young person, the native side emphasized developing leadership abilities, learning the culture and understanding the environment. The white side […]
My Personal View of the Forgotten Trail
Mother’s Day is this weekend and I’m sure what your mother would like most is for you to show up. So, number one, take Mom to brunch, lunch or dinner, it is the least you can do for all of the trouble you caused her – I know that and […]
Get your mom a school for Mother’s Day!
Today, for the first time in a month, I woke up in my own bed and had nothing scheduled. No meetings, no family events to attend. The happy thought that went through my mind is that now I can spend all day working on our new game, Forgotten Trail. Today, […]
Why the “game” part of math games is so important
I get asked this question all of the time in many, many different contexts, from elementary school children who play our games, to game developers who are not involved in education. There are multiple questions for this, but let me answer the grown-ups first. I care so much about math […]
Why Do You Care So Much About Math?
1 Well, it’s been a minute. Months ago, I started writing about reusable code and was then interrupted by flying around the country to present game results, getting an alpha version of our Aztech game to testers, getting Forgotten Trail ready for release FRIDAY (!!!) etc. You can read Part 1 […]