Slice Fractions

This Cut-the-Rope-like educational game isn’t half fun

Slice Fractions

iOS gaming teaches maths

One of the challenges for educational game developers is how to strike a balance between lessons and fun. Slice Fractions has mastered teaching kids about fractional maths without using overt lessons to do so.

It tasks players with clearing a path for a woolly mammoth to get from one side of the screen to another. The mammoth’s path is blocked by chunks of ice or lava that must be eliminated by hitting them with equally sized blocks. This is achieved by slicing up a large block hanging in the sky, and then popping the bubbles holding it up in the correct way to make sure the blocks drop where you need them to, reminiscent of Cut the Rope.

The educational aspect is presented in a different ways, giving kids a variety of opportunities to see how fractions translate in realworld terms. Early levels focus on shapes and sizes, while later levels bring in the numeric representations of fractions. Mastering the levels earns players goofy hats for the mammoth.

Slice Fractions does a really great job of teaching without making it feel like a lesson, though it also gives hints if it senses you’re stuck. The controls are straightforward and easy to use, with the exception of the levels that allow you to slice up a brick any way you choose, which can be difficult to be exact. The only other drawback is the game is very short, though more free content is coming. Nicole Tanner

Early on, the game tells you exactly where to slice the blocks, but later levels make things a little harder.