How Maths Wizard’s creators were inspired by their own struggles

Art director Mary Shu recalled her math studies before leading a team that created Mumbles, Osmo’s most powerful Math Wizard.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

It was hard.

She had dyscalculia, or dyslexia with numbers, which made tough at school.

I was one of those students who passionately disliked maths’, she remarked. “Making maths magical and fun? This is something I wanted as a kid.”

Mary and her team constructed a fictional universe of anthropomorphic wizards that use “mathemagic” to manage Mumbles at Osmo.

They merged their favourite stories and characters with curriculum expert advice and young maths student experiences.

“We transform equations into magical spells, and that removes intimidation,” she stated.

MATH AS A ‘USEFUL TOOL’

Math Wizard’s character creation began with mood boards and original concept art, focusing on space and magic. Kids who play tested the product helped choose magic, then decided on the characters, their backstories and their costumes (a combination of wizard gear and current street clothing like trainers).

We attempt to keep player motivation in mind—how can you make a routine and tough maths problem a challenge you want to overcome and master? Mary stated. We absolutely need story and characters to spark that urge. Helping a character fix something broken.

“If you care about the character and want to help them, conjuring a ‘magic spell’ (aka maths problem) makes them happy again. Maths becomes magical and useful, which is exciting.”

Mary sought to convey three tenets to kids through the game when designing: First, maths isn’t terrifying.

Second: Math helps, and most importantly, failure is OK.

If you fail, you can always start again, she said. “Failing in our games isn’t punishing.”

TEAMWORK

Mary has a team that wanted to motivate all youngsters to be maths ace.

Jason Nowak was another fearful maths student.

He implemented Math Wizard’s concept of what math should look like as the primary UI/UX designer to inspire kids to tackle a difficult topic.

Jason, Mary, and the crew work to surprise and amaze kids with fresh characters, magic spells, engaging interactions, and intriguing plots.

Mary added, “We aim to make maths problem solving enjoyable or something the player/kid actively wants to do over and over again, and for them to grow their skills and be proud of that growth.”