Tux, of Math Command


Tux, of Math Command is an open source arcade-style video game for learning arithmetic, initially created for Linux.

History

The first alpha of the game was released by its initial developer, Bill Kendrick, in September 2001, days prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was decided that the imagery of exploding buildings was no longer suitable. Eventually the city imagery was replaced with igloos, to match the arctic theme of Tux, the Linux penguin, who stars in the game.
Since 1.7.0 the game also include a multiplayer mode and Factor-fraction activity called Factoroids.

Gameplay

The game-play mechanic is based loosely on that of the arcade game Missile Command, but with comets falling on cities, rather than missiles. Like Missile Command, players attempt to protect their cities, but rather than using a trackball-controlled targeting cross-hair, players solve math problems that label each comet, which causes a laser to destroy it.

Features

The game has multiple user support, LAN multiplayer mode, on-screen tutorials and a training mode - over 50 bundled lessons ranging from simple number typing up through all four basic arithmetic operations with negative numbers and "missing number" questions. Being an open source project, multi-platform support for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS and others is available. Localization to over thirty languages was created by the games community. Included is also "Factoroids", a clone of classic Atari video game "Asteroids", modified to be an activity to train factorization.

Reception and impact

Distribution

TuxMath is included in numerous Linux distributions, including the Edubuntu flavor of Ubuntu. It is included as a game on the ASUS Eee PC. It was also included on the Dish Network 721 PVR.

Use in Schools

Numerous schools use TuxMath, and school newsletters, educational, software websites and publications mention it, often together with other open source educational software.