RATIO MARTIAN: Identifying Ratios/Fractions

GAME INFO

What is the objective of the game?

The game "Ratio Martian" by Arcademics consists of helping a Martian in space feed itself by correctly selecting different ratios, proportions, or fractions. Throughout the game, various expressions will cross the screen (such as times, speeds, or textual phrases), and your mission is to press the spacebar only when a valid ratio appears. These expressions can be presented in three different formats: as a fraction (1/3), as a ratio (1:3), or in literal English form (1 to 3). At the end of the one-minute match, the game displays a detailed breakdown showing your accuracy percentage, speed, and a list of correct and incorrect answers to review your mistakes.

Recommended age and educational level

This game is recommended for elementary school (specifically ages 10-11 and up), middle school, and high school students. It is designed for learners who already have prior knowledge of fractions and basic mathematical expressions. It serves as an excellent tool for direct use by students in the classroom or at home, as well as for teachers and parents looking to gamify math practice. Additionally, it is highly useful for therapists working on sustained attention and cognitive processing speed.

How to play: individual or multiplayer

The core gameplay mode is individual, focusing on high performance and quickly breaking personal high scores. However, it can easily be adapted into a collaborative group activity in an educational setting. Teachers can set up peer-to-peer dynamics where one student reads the ratio aloud and the other controls the keyboard, or organize friendly classroom challenges to see who achieves the highest accuracy rate in one minute.

What do you learn with this game? Learning and skills

This game helps develop the following competencies and skills:

Mathematics and Arithmetic: Visual identification and conceptualization of ratios, proportions, and equivalent fractions.
Language Skills (English): Reinforcement of math vocabulary and reading comprehension of technical expressions (like "1 to 3").
Cognitive Skills: Enhancement of selective attention, rapid visual discrimination, and motor reaction time under a time constraint.
Metacognition: Self-assessment and learning from mistakes by reviewing the final summary screen.

Tips to get the most out of this game

To maximize the educational impact of "Ratio Martian," we recommend implementing an unplugged resource activity after playing. Have students write down their correct and incorrect answers count from the final screen in a notebook. Using these numbers, challenge them to manually calculate their accuracy percentage and categorize their mistakes based on the format they struggled with the most (fraction, ratio, or word form). This exercise reinforces data analysis and promotes learning from errors.