''Math Gran Prix'' (released as ''Maths Grand Prix'' in Europe) is an educational video game written for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocess ...

by Suki Lee and published by

Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...

in 1982.

Gameplay

The player must advance a car through a

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

race by answering mathematics questions, with 9 variations of play. Random bonuses may pop up during play. Both two- and single-player gaming against the computer is possible, with the computer's calculation speed slowed artificially compared to its normal speed of calculation in single-player mode. Questions included addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The game is aimed at 7- to 10-year-old children.

Development

The game was programmed by

Suki Lee Suki Lee is an American video game designer and computer programmer. She was one of the few female developers at Atari, Inc. in the early 1980s where she wrote the educational game ''Math Gran Prix'' for the Atari 2600 (1982) and '' Obelix'' (198 ...

. Lee went on to work on ''

Obelix Obelix (; french: Obélix) is a cartoon character in the French comic book series ''Asterix''. He works as a menhir sculptor and deliveryman, and is Asterix's best friend. Obelix is noted for his obesity, the menhirs he carries around on his bac ...

'', also for the Atari 2600. The cover art for the game was drawn by Warren Chang.

Reception

In a January 1983, review the British computer games magazine ''TV Gamer'' described the game as "certainly a lot more entertaining than its predecessor, '' Basic Maths''". A review in the January 1983 edition of ''Tilt'' magazine, a French video games magazine, gave the game 2/6 for graphics and 4/6 for interest, saying that the game might even be of interest to adults. Reviewing the game in 2017 in the book ''The A-Z of Atari 2600 Games: Volume 2'', Kieren Hawken described the game as "nothing more than a curio. An ugly and very unexciting curio at that!" and gave the game 3/10 overall. Menno Deen, in a PhD thesis for the

Eindhoven University of Technology The Eindhoven University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven), abbr. TU/e, is a public technical university in the Netherlands, located in the city of Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its BSc ...

, cited ''Math Gran Prix'' as "an example of the restrictive nature of early edutainment titles of the 80s", stating that the game's lack of player autonomy does not impart motivation to learn. He furthermore stated that ''Math Gran Prix'' and other mathematics edutainment games: "adopt the instructional model of the explainer and instructor, focusing on skill mastery and correct performances" rather than facilitating experimentation or exploration, the latter two of which he argued are more conducive to learning.

References

External links

Game manual
on the Internet Archive
January 1982 press release by Atari
advertising the game's upcoming release {{DEFAULTSORT:Math Gran Prix 1982 video games Atari 2600 games Mathematical education video games Video games developed in the United States

Gameplay

Development

Reception

See also

References

External links