Tetris with an educational twist.

Platform : Windows 2000, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT

Type: function limited demo

Manufacturer: Joustra Software

Size: 512Kb

Rating: 4

Verdict: Learning made fun, as it should be. A simple yet effective educational aid.Good Points: Educational and engaging.Bad Points: Sums can't be created horizontally, only vertically.

System Requirements:
No special requirements.

There are many clones of the classic Tetris, but very few do anything particularly original. Valgetal is different in that it combines the fun of Tetris with the task of basic mathematics.

Aimed at young children of junior (elementary) school age, it lets them learn the mathematical fundamentals of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The premise is simple: select the equation you wish to work with, and get ready to drop those blocks.

Each block will have a random number on it: place two blocks on top of each other and the third block must equal the sum of the first two. For example, if working on multiplication and the first two numbers are 3 and 6 then the final block put in place must equal 18 (3 x 6).

Get an answer wrong and the playing area is reduced in height, increasing the difficulty. Create 15 correct sums and you can progress to the next level. Only the first four levels are playable in this demo.