da Vinci's RoomMultiply Divide & Conquer: A Cooperative Multiplication and Division Math Game for Kids

Sums in Space was one of the first math games we owned and loved, so we were really excited to try this one!In this game, you are magic mathematicians who have to defeat zombie goo slime covered mathematicians to clear the kingdom of goo and save the day. Each turn you can use multiplication to gain bonus items, clear goo slime, battle the goo mathematicians, or storm their castle. You use A LOT of multiplication in this game so it is very good practice.My kids (6 and 8) were really invested in the “mission” and I love that it plays like a regular game that uses math rather than thinly veiled math practice. There really are a lot of interesting mechanics that keep the game engaging. I would say the closest game I can compare it to in that sense is dragonwood, but this game has a lot more math!There are a couple things I would have changed. You have to set 100 goo slime tokens into groups of 20 as part of the set up and that is tedious for my kids, both to count out and to keep stacked and separated. I printed out five blank ten frames and cut them out and now they can put two in each square on each ten frame so that makes it easier. I wish there was something like a mat or holder that made that mechanic a little easier to set up and manage.Additionally, it would have been nice to include a times table chart or grid. I ended up printing one out. Since I was using it to teach the times tables to my kids who don’t know them well, it was necessary to get through a game since there’s so much multiplication.Also a lot of the game is “battles” between the two numbers you roll and the two numbers the opposing goo mathematicians roll. I wish it had 4 dice (2 red, 2 blue) so that could roll your dice and the oppositions dice and see both at once rather than roll the oppositions dice and have to remember it, then roll yours. I happened to have extra 10 sided dice, but if you don’t you may want some way to write down the rolls and battle numbers if your kiddo is less experienced. These are all minor things, but just good to know in advance if you know your kid may get tripped up by them.The game overall is super fun, the kids loved it and begged to play again on a Sunday so I would say that’s the most important thing. There is definitely lots of replay ability, and you can change the difficulty level quite easily so it can grow with your child. We are definitely adding this to our gameschool rotation and I would definitely recommend it to others!

By far a better quality than I was expecting. Seems like it will laat with my kids for a few years and as a hand me down when my kids outgrow it.

This game is so complicated that the kids hated it. The directions take forever and are complicated. I am including a photo of the sheet entitled “ Getting Started”. It goes downhill from there. I returned it.

Such a nice surprise, a strategy game that utilizes mathematics is brilliant.My grandson is being homeschooled and needed some review games for multiplication and division. We didn’t want a plain old site and recite game; this one is exactly what we wanted.Kids use multiplication from 1-10 or simple division of numbers of 1-100 as they move across the board and take on the game’s challenges.Can be one player or up to four players. We really like that he can actually play solo; allowing it to be a center game while we are working with his brothers on other skills.When more than one player plays, it encourages cooperation where everyone is working towards the same goal.It’s great for problem solving, too. It helps your child think strategically and logically to pick the best way to take on a challenge.Might not work well in an actual school setting; game play is around 45’ to finish.

The game is ambitious and the concept good, but the setup needed and gameplay are overly complicated. If this was a video game, with the computer calculating the moves of the slime pieces and maintaining the stacks, it could be really enjoyable, but it didn't work for our family as a board game. My eight-year-old daughter lost interest halfway through reading the rules, and I gave up after playing two rounds.It is hard to remember which slime tokens have shifted and where they need to shift if you are even a little distracted while moving them. And that is on top of remembering and following the rules of gameplay.For those who still want to try the game, it is well made. The board is sturdy, and the cards durable. The slime tokens are similar in size and feel to tiddlywinks. Quality-wise you won't be disappointed.So, while I had high hopes for the game, it has remained unused. Instead, my daughter has been playing and enjoying the online Prodigy Math game (and the Number Rock song videos) to help boost her math skills.