Parents' Guide to

NumberShire

By Erin Bell, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 5+

Rich village simulation teaches core-standards math.

Game Linux, Mac, Windows 2014
NumberShire Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

  • NumberShire Game: Screenshot #1
  • NumberShire Game: Screenshot #2
  • NumberShire Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

See all
age 4+

Based on 12 parent reviews

IrrationalPie31415
IrrationalPie31415 Parent of 3 and 5-year-old
August 28, 2020
age 5+

Absolutely amazing app that had my 5 year old glued to the math puzzles

This app is very well designed, and, very importantly by education professionals. It is engaging and has my child excited about doing the math problems. My 5 year old had no problem with any of the content counting adding and subtracting numbers less than 10 which allowed several hours of play (~ 4 hours or so). The app teaches helping others (e.g. help this character count the numbers) . My son has now run into more difficult problems , such as adding subtracting two digit numbers, and will need more math education before he can continue, but he enjoyed the numbers less than 10 content greatly, and without parent involvement. Also it is great that everything has audio (not just text which requires reading) , my son can read, but it would be tiring to read and play at the same time for him, as we've learned with many other apps.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
milka
milka Parent of 3 and 5-year-old
October 12, 2015
age 3+
See all 12 parent reviews

What’s It About?

NUMBERSHIRE is set in Tally-Ho, a rustic village inhabited by friendly animals. Players create their own anthropomorphized character, then help the villagers with various tasks that all involve numbers in some way. This includes counting groups of nails at the blacksmith's shop, helping a musician sort the coins in his case, and writing numbers by tracing them with the mouse. Kids receive a score for each activity, and upon completing the day's lessons they earn rewards such as new clothing and pets.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (12):
Kids say (3):

NumberShire is a warm and inviting setting for kids to practice basic math. Each set of activities is grouped around a theme relating to an ongoing storyline -- such as building, baking, or preparing for the big parade -- which helps kids feel a real sense of accomplishment and progress. That said, there's no way to customize the experience based on the player's age or aptitude, leading to some uneven levels of challenges within the lesson groups. But, in spite of its quirks, NumberShire is a compelling way to teach and reinforce an otherwise dry subject for a young audience.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why math is important. What kinds of tasks does it help you do?

  • Explore opportunities for using math skills such as counting, adding, and subtracting in the real world from the lessons found in NumberShire.

Game Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Related Topics

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate