Parents' Guide to

Math Missions

By Jinny Gudmundsen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

An excellent math game for the Leapster.

Game Leapster 2006
Math Missions Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 17+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Trevor C.
Trevor C. Adult
March 16, 2018
age 17+

challenging

my son is 17 and cannot get passed stage 5. there are too many equations involving the pythagorean theorem or the quadratic formula. my husband and i also had some difficulty. while this game is quite old and there are plenty of online "walk-throughs" i tend to refer to those as bitch material for those who struggle to complete simple tasks given by AI. this game is too hard. i have been patiently waiting for a patch since 2006. nothing has happened. not even a hotfix. if david vonderhaar can patch snipers in less than a year of a game being out, the developer(s) in this game should be able to patch the snipers of math class in 12 years. yes, i placed the 's' in parentheses because i genuinely feel that only one ape worked on this monstrosity of a game, if you can even call it a game. it is more of a mental obstacle and a womanizer than a game. it only shines light on the intelligence of men, as it often says "good job, dude" when you get a question right. why not "dudette"? i am outraged.

This title has:

Too much consumerism
prettygirlsofly22
prettygirlsofly22 Parent of 11-year-old
October 6, 2010
age 16+

no

i hate it very much it is bad and not educational

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
See all 2 parent reviews

What’s It About?

Leapster MATH MISSIONS transports kids to Spectacle City, a metropolis notorious for its poor math skills. Kids are employed by four businesses, and at each they use their math skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and geometry) to solve everyday problems.

This translates into gameplay: At the seafood market, kids help the clerk weigh fish by dragging the seafood onto a scale until it's balanced. At another store, kids help tag merchandise for sale by matching a target sale number. The other two businesses need help matching geometric shapes in a tangram puzzle, and using logic to fill candy orders to match customers' feedback. When kids have earned enough money, they can spend it at the city's gaming arcade.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (9 ):

In 2003, Scholastic released two excellent Math Missions computer software titles for kids. By partnering with Leapfrog, Scholastic now brings some of the content and characters from the original Math Missions to the Leapster format, and the result is an outstanding handheld math video game for first- through third-graders.

Leapster Math Missions is an excellent choice for families who own a Leapster or the Leapster L-Max. These on-the-go math games can be played on three levels of difficulty, and they have built-in tutorial help.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how they use math in their own real life situations (going to the store, taking a bus, etc.). What are some offline activities you can do to keep working on the same skills that this game targets?

Game Details

  • Platform: Leapster
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: LeapFrog
  • Release date: January 25, 2006
  • Genre: Educational
  • ESRB rating: E
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

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