Today we have a special Android App Review, UPlus. I announced the game last week and today I wanted to provide a more in depth review of the app. UPlus was developed by Les P. over in the UK. He was very kind to provide a copy of the game for this review.
Overall it is a fun game and one to test your math skills. The premise of the game is simple. Fill in the blanks with the numbers listed at the bottom of the screen. To figure out what number to put in each box, you need to add, thus the name U Plus!
The game comes with 4 levels of difficulty which are “governed by the size of the ‘adding numbers’ (in the square boxes) from 1 to 20 for the easiest level and from 1 to 80 for the hardest.”
Also each game is timed and there is a best times section for each level.
I would definitely recommend this game for the kids. I know my elementary school kids would definitely be challenged. After a couple of rounds on each level, I found that my best times were on the hardest level. Now I know there is always room for improvement but for me adding numbers comes pretty easily. One question I had for Les was mixing it up a bit and having multiplication, division, subtraction too. He said he did have a puzzle (called AWESUM!) that did that but had not yet looked into making it an app. I would like to see that one Les!
The game plays well on my DroidX and I had no problem reading selecting numbers. Also I did not have any problems with the app crashing either. There is no music background, which is fine, but I am curious if that would add to the excitement of the game; maybe it would distract you a bit? Don’t know just a thought.
I liked the game and think it is worth $1 USD. It would be a good investment for someone who wants to work on their math skills and likes to race against the clock.
I emailed Les and ask him to provide some background on him and the game.
Les is a retired 64 year old granddad, whose hobby is devising mathematical puzzles and writing macro programs that produce the puzzles on Lotus 123 spreadsheets. Well a while back, his grandson, Harry, who is 12, persuaded him to let some of his schoolmates try out some of the puzzles. The kids really liked them, so he decided to have one of the puzzles, U+, developed professionally as an app.
Also Les told me, that a portion of every sale will go to the Chestnut Tree House. What is Chestnut Tree House? Well…
“Chestnut Tree House, the only children’s hospice in Sussex, offers specialist palliative care to children and young people suffering from life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses. Life-limiting means they are not likely to reach adulthood and includes disorders such as Muscular Dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, multiple disabilities, cancer and progressive genetic disorders.”
It sounds very much like the Roland McDonald House here in the US.
Again, I want to thank Les for letting me take a look at his game, thanking him for wanting to help others, and encourage him to produce some more puzzle games, since every likes puzzles!
