Math Dash

The Microsoft Imagine Cup is calling on all computer nerds to harness their skills and make a difference in the world. Three computer science majors studying at Drexel University, named the Drexel Dragons, believe that they have what it takes to make that change. Matthew Lesnak, Keith Ayers, and Nicholas Taylor Mullen are preparing for the final round of nationals in Seattle. There are six teams left, and only one will go home with $6 thousand.

In spring 2011, Lesnak and Ayers took a serious game class. Professor Frank Lee challenged his students to make a game that teaches basic arithmetic based on Atari games. The two men paired up, called the game Math Dash, and designed their game after SEGA’s Root Beer Tapper. The idea behind the original was that you were a bartender and there were multiple counters with thirsty customers. You have to serve all of the customers before they leave or you lose. Instead of drinks, the team decided to use numbers where you’d have to grab them as they came across the screen and fit them into an equation bar and solve the problem correctly.

The team got an A in the class and their professor told them about the Microsoft Imagine Cup. He said that he took a look at the games that won pervious competitions and believed that his students had a chance of winning not only nationals but worlds. The Imagine Cup takes a look at the U.N. millennium goals such as: decreasing child mortality rates, increase child education, solve world hunger. The competition has three different categories that students all over the world can compete in: Software Design, Game Design: Xbox/Windows, and Game Design: Phone. According to the Imagine Cup’s website it wants students to, “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.”

Over the summer Lesnak and Ayers tried coming up with different game ideas that they could use to win the competition.  Previous competitors made games that helped to increase pollution awareness, feed starving kids in Africa, a phone app to help people test to find out if they had asthma, but there was nothing like Math Dash. The team thought it was too nice of a topic and wanted to do something else that would make a global change.  However, Professor Lee, their advisor in this project, disliked every one of their ideas and convinced them to use Math Dash and recreate it for the game design phone category.

Matthew Lesnak, team captain, looked up worldwide statistics for children in K through 12 with above average math scores. In France only 39 percent of children were proficient in math, U.N. – 34 percent, and U.S. 31 percent. With statistics like these, Lesnak and Ayers agreed that math poses a problem everywhere, and if they could make math fun, maybe they could help make a difference in the world.

Before the fall semester began in Sept., Professor Lee got in contact with Lindsey Lindstrom, a Microsoft evangelist, who helped recruit for the Imagine Cup. To help the Drexel Dragons in the making of their game, she gave them Windows phones, so they’d be able to test and run the game on the platform they’d be competing in. The team enrolled in an independent study class held by Professor Lee that allowed them to work on Math Dash for the competition.  Imagine Cup required a maximum of 4 team members and Lesnak and Ayers knew that they wouldn’t be able to do it alone. They recruited another computer science major, whose name is Nicholas Taylor Mullen, and to fill the last spot, a graphics design major to help with the art.

Round one for the national competition was Oct. 14. It required a story board of what the game would look like. Ayers said it was easier to make the visual elements of the game and take screenshots than it would be to design a document. The team scrapped the idea of using SEGA’s Root Beer Tapper, because there wouldn’t be enough room on the screen of a phone. They decided to create an ocean blue background and have the numbers float around on the screen. The numbers however, look like colorful atoms and have electrons that circle around them, giving the game extra flash. They moved the equation bar to the bottom of the screen so players would have to drag and drop the numbers to solve the equations before time ran out. Each equation that is solved earns the player an extra few seconds and points to proceed to the next level.

The game isn’t just about simple arithmetic. The team wanted to challenge people to think abstractly. Mullen gave the example: “If you ask people what does coffee beans plus hot water equal, most would answer coffee. However, if you reverse the scenario and ask: how do you make coffee; then it’s a drawn out conversation about the process of doing so. Math Dash is about making kids think outside of the box and not just a simple solution.”

In order to fulfill what Mullen spoke about, they made it so players can drag numbers on top of one another to make a combination. If any of the combinations went higher than the number nine, the numbers would split into two smaller ones. “This forces people to think abstractly and come up with solutions that they never thought they would,” Mullen said.

The team made it through round one with no problems. In mid-Oct. Mullen hired an acquaintance to make all of the sound effects for the game. “He was responsive and got material to us ASAP. He spent nights getting exactly what we wanted, even though it was difficult for us to describe the sound,” Mullen said. They worked with him until round two of nationals.

Round two was approaching on Nov. 14. The team was doing well and had an alpha version of the game designed, meaning it was possible to play the game for a total of 5 - 10 minutes. When the deadline for round two got closer, the artist kept on missing deadlines and wasn’t showing up for meetings. Due to a lack of communication and difference in work ethics, the team decided to not use the artist’s input.  They felt that the problems and fights that they were having would continue to happen if they let him stay.  The artist was outraged and said that they couldn’t use his art, even though 90 percent of the game was made up of his artwork.

The group panicked. They outsourced to digital media students and called on every favor that they could. They had friends help design the menu items and electron rings that would circle around the atoms.  Everything else Lesnak and Mullen split, and with their own knowledge of graphics design set to work. They stayed up until 4:30 a.m. every night and woke up at 9 or 10 a.m.

“After a while we forgot about the stress and just thought: what has to be done now?” Ayers said. Ayers waited for the art to be completed and coded everything into the game. Sunday evening, they submitted the game with little time to spare.

The judges called Math Dash, “Simply sophisticated.” With their winnings in the first two rounds of nationals, the group decided to move on to the world’s competition. If they were to make it to the final round for worlds, they’d be flown off to an all expense paid trip to Australia where they’d be in the line up to win $25 thousand.

For the next few months, The Drexel Dragons worked on improving their game to make it as perfect as they could for the world competition. The first round was Feb. 14, and the team wanted to make the game open for all age groups. They added a feature that schools could purchase as a teaching tool for the students. Teachers have a drop down menu allowing them to choose the grade level: first through eighth grade.

In late February, the team took the game to Springfield Middle School, where they let fifth to eighth graders test it out. When asked if they would rather play Math Dash or do homework, the students answered Math Dash. Another student said that she liked the game, because her mother couldn’t yell at her for playing on her phone.

After getting past world’s round one and two, they added even more features to the game such as: a black hole that would suck up your numbers if it got close to them, an atom that would give you double the amount of points, and a time stop atom.

During this time period, there were few problems between team members, except for the occasional debate. “Everyone is a perfectionist, and is concerned about kids being able to play the game. Someone would do research and say something that would cause a fight over what was best for kids and what the Imagine Cup wants,” Ayers said.

Once April came around, the team was putting their finishing touches on the game. Ayers in particular worked on more technical aspects, such as being able to pause the game if you got a call on your cell phone and being able to enter back into it after the call ended. Lesnak focused on filling out paper work and creating documents to fulfill the Imagine Cup’s regulations, while Mullen worked on implanting advertisements into the game and prepared the game for its release on the Windows phone on April 3. 

The final round of the competition was April 20-25. All teams competing in it were flown to Seattle to Microsoft’s main campus. The Drexel Dragons felt nervous and excited, while at the same time knowing that they had a good chance of winning. The project as a whole was rewarding to these men. They learned things that they felt they never would have if they had simply studied at Drexel, and it taught them how to work together to make a game successful.  It allowed them to show the world what they are capable of doing.

Upon arrival, Microsoft welcomed competitors from all three categories to the campus. They gave them a tour, and to make them as excited as possible, gave everyone an Acer Ultra laptop with the beta version of Windows 8. They announced that 114 thousand people applied for the Imagine Cup and only 76 people remained.

On Saturday, the team said that they were extremely nervous, but knew what they were doing and knew that they had a leg up. They had a full 20 minutes to present their game in front of a panel of Microsoft employees. They practiced their presentation at least half a dozen times beforehand in front of their advisor. 

After their presentation Lindsey Lindstrom, the Microsoft evangelist, told the team that they were perfect and had all three components that the judges were looking for: fun, impact, and polished.  According to Lindsey, most of the others games didn’t have all those elements. However, there was one problem with their presentation, they didn’t make the connection to the judges how Math Dash would increase education as a whole.

Sunday was the first cut, and only four teams remained. The Drexel Dragons made it through and would need to start preparing for Monday, where they’d be presenting in front of a new panel of judges. The team changed one sentence within their presentation to get across how Math Dash could help change the world. They were ready.

Instead of Microsoft employees acting as judges, they called in game critics. During the final presentation the team handed the game over to one of the judges. He froze and said he had no idea what to do, because none of the numbers matched up with the equation. Ayers quickly ran over to show him how to make combinations and how to split numbers. That act saved the day.

Monday evening was the award ceremony. Microsoft purposefully dragged it out, and kept on teasing the contestants by saying, “OK, let’s get to the awards. Just kidding, here’s another speaker!” After two long speeches and a few side awards, they announced third place, then second.

“At that point, we knew we won. It didn’t seem to matter who won and who lost, people were screaming and clasping hands. It was an amazing feeling,” Ayers said.

The Drexel Dragons not only won $6 thousand dollars but a glass trophy with their names on it, a Nokia Lumia 800 phone which has a retail value of $600, a bag for the Acer laptops and much more. 

All that remains for the Drexel Dragons is to prepare for the third round of the Imagine Cup World competition. This will be going on over the summer.  Ayers and Mullen both received a job with Microsoft and will be moving to Seattle in July. Lesnak is currently looking into getting into the game design area of Microsoft.