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reinforce their existing math skills. In addition teachers could have their copy of the game networked to copies in class to monitor and control them. It has proven to be attention catching with the ability to train students' hand/eye coordination as well as building up self-esteem and instilling confidence.
318:
escapades) after every third level; in this game, these are dubbed as "Great
Moments in Muncher History". While these scenes are numbered (Act 1, Act 2, etc.), the order they appear varies from game to game. Once all six have been shown, they begin to repeat themselves (starting with the scene after
301:
Players can choose from the five modes of play, or choose a "challenge" mode, which randomizes these modes. In the
Multiples mode, Muncher must munch all numbers which are multiples of the number given; for example, if the designated number is 3 then Muncher must eat all 6's, 9's, and 12's and avoid
288:
Safety squares occasionally appear to help protect
Muncher from the Troggles. These are temporary havens identified by four small white rectangles on the corner of the square. No Troggle may enter a safety square; if one appears on a square a Troggle currently occupies, that Troggle dies (but may be
217:
with two legs and a large head, whose goal is to eat
Muncher and/or disrupt his progress by rearranging things on the board. Levels 1, 2, and 3, contain only one Troggle on the grid at any given time. A second Troggle appears starting with level 4, and a third appears starting with level 8. After
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Game play begins with four
Muncher lives (the one currently in play, plus three others in reserve). After scoring a certain number of points, the player gains an extra life. Players lose a life if they munch an incorrect answer. Additionally, five different types of enemies (or "Troggle") appear
387:
The game was designed for school and home use for grades four to eight with parental controlled options to set the difficulty level. It teaches multiples, factors, prime numbers, equalities, and inequalities. It helped introduce math skills to younger students, while helping older students to
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The player controls the muncher who must move around a grid and munch on numbers that match the logic rule above while avoiding the threatening troggles. As the player progresses the levels, the logic rules have bigger numbers, and harder difficulty and multiple troggles pursue the muncher.
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numbers such as 7. In
Factors the muncher seeks to ingest the factors of a given number, in Primes, he craves prime numbers, and in the Equality and Inequality modes, the muncher devours expressions such as 2+4 which are equivalent or not equivalent (respectively) to the designated number.
292:
In addition, Troggles are quite cannibalistic; if one
Troggle enters a square already occupied by another, or if two of them enter one square at the same time (even if they are of the same species), one Troggle will eat the other, although another Troggle may re-enter the board afterwards.
32:
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A Muncher beats two
Troggles in a beauty contest. Later releases of the game replaced this cut scene with one in which a Muncher stumbles through his house in the dark and then turns on the light, only to discover that he has broken all of his
250:) (green on Apple II, blue in DOS, pink on Macintosh) - moves arbitrarily on the gameboard, unless approached by a Muncher, in which case he moves away from the Muncher. It became purple in later releases in the series.
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Inequality - this mode gives players the number and they must select the equations that DO NOT equal the current number. If given 6, one would eat equations such as 4 X 2, 18 / 9, and 3 + 5.
902:
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There are five different modes of play in Number
Munchers to advance players' mathematical skills. These modes include Multiples, Factors, Primes, Equalities, and Inequalities:
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284:) (green on Apple II and Macintosh, yellow on DOS) - has large teeth and glasses, and is the most difficult Troggle to avoid; always follows the Muncher on the board.
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Equality - this mode gives players the chance to find equations equaling the current number. If given the number 6, one would 'munch' 3 x 2, 3 + 3, 12 / 2, and so on.
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379:. This only worked on a computer that had a built-in clock or that was never turned off, as the built-in clock was not common at the time the games were popular.
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A Muncher is chased by a Reggie across the screen twice, then the
Muncher gets in an old-timey automobile, outruns the Troggle and the Troggle falls and gives up.
274:) (purple and white on Apple II and DOS, magenta and white on Macintosh) - this Troggle adds new answers and/or changes existing answers as he moves around.
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replaced afterwards). Safety squares may disappear as quickly and randomly as they appear; hence, one must take caution not to remain in one for long.
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praised the game for its cartoony graphics and a viable way to make math fun. It was considered both an award-winner and best-seller from
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Multiples - the objective is to find multiples of the number given. If presented with a 3, one would select numbers like 3, 6, 9, 12, etc.
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approximately level 18, the game (especially the movement of the Troggles) accelerates to make responsible munching more difficult.
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Factors - the objective is to find factors of the number given. If the number is 12, one would choose to eat 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12.
240:) (magenta on Apple II, red in DOS, purple on Macintosh) - simply move in a line unless redirected by a safety square in its path.
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315:
167:. Two versions of the game were released the Consumer Version (for home use) and the School Version (for classrooms). After
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Primes - this mode helps players find prime numbers that are only divisible by 1 and themselves. e.g., 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13.
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A Muncher races a Bashful up a mountain, plants his flag, and sings a song (Ding Dong! the Witch is Dead).
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264:-like Troggle eats all answers, leaving nothing behind. It became purple in later releases in the series.
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There are several types of "Troggles". Each type of Troggle moves in a specific pattern. There are five
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Reviewer Benj Edwards regarded the game as one of the "Top 10 Educational PC Games of the 80s" in
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in 1990. The concept of the game was designed by R. Philip Bouchard, who also designed
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As in the other games in the series, a player is awarded a cutscene (reminiscent of
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582:"How I Managed to Design the Most Successful Educational Computer Game of All Time"
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throughout the game. Players lose a life if they make contact with a Troggle.
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and one of the "Best 17 Educational Games of the 70s, 80s and 90s" in
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260:) (green on Apple II and DOS, magenta on Macintosh) - this
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of Troggle, each of which has an English and a mock-Latin (
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acquired MECC, the game was rebranded as "Math Munchers".
604:"Appendix 3: A Philosophy of Educational Software Design"
881:"The 17 best educational games of the 70s, 80s and 90s"
685:. Vol. 4, no. 5. October 1991. p. 14.
652:
Interdisciplinary Models and Tools for Serious Games
935:"The best edutainment games [ClassicRadar]"
118:
106:
90:
70:
60:
50:
38:
24:
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738:
539:. The number munching was commonly compared to a
903:"A Pioneer Story: How MECC Blazed New Trails"
859:"10 Educational PC Games Every 80s Kid Loved"
8:
835:
833:
485:
453:
419:
1046:Video games developed in the United States
484:
399:
319:Level 21). The six scenes are as follows:
30:
21:
572:
697:"The Impact of Video Games on Culture"
602:Bouchard, R. Philip (November 1989).
580:Bouchard, R. Philip (June 29, 2017).
7:
404:
649:Eck, Richard Van (March 31, 2010).
395:
1031:Mathematical education video games
1016:Children's educational video games
655:. Information Science Publishing.
625:"Essentials - Product Information"
326:Two Munchers reenact the story of
14:
879:Edwards, Benj (August 19, 2015).
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421:
1041:Video games about food and drink
719:"Educational Software From MECC"
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430:
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351:A Muncher carves his image into
959:MECC Catalog Spring-Summer 1990
857:Edwards, Benj (June 13, 2017).
770:"The Lighter Side of Education"
682:Game Player's PC Strategy Guide
316:Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
1:
780:. September 1991. p. 36.
901:Juba, Joe (April 7, 2017).
758:. October 1990. p. 50.
746:"Number Munchers - MacUser"
372:, the Muncher would wear a
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804:. April 1993. p. 212.
368:, between December 1 and
1036:Single-player video games
731:. June 1986. p. 115.
507:Technology & Learning
493:
490:
408:
405:
29:
520:Bobker's Dozen Best List
340:a Smartie and sings the
792:"MacWorld Star Ratings"
638:. May 1993. p. 44.
843:MECC catalog 1995-1996
137:educational video game
510:Reader's Choice Award
145:. It was released by
1021:Classic Mac OS games
677:"Kids and Computers"
169:The Learning Company
937:. December 25, 2013
561:Media & Methods
487:
402:
965:. MECC. p. 3.
846:. MECC. p. 6.
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282:Trogglus smarticus
139:and a spin-off of
66:R. Philip Bouchard
756:Dennis Publishing
524:
523:
483:
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383:Educational goals
258:Trogglus assistus
238:Trogglus normalus
213:The Troggles are
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1006:1986 video games
980:Official website
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915:on April 8, 2017
911:. Archived from
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344:taunting melody.
272:Trogglus laborus
248:Trogglus timidus
164:The Oregon Trail
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553:Parents' Choice
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502:Gold Award 1986
499:Parent's Choice
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132:Number Munchers
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25:Number Munchers
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19:1986 video game
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16:1986 video game
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974:External links
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816:"MECC History"
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908:Game Informer
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941:November 12,
939:. Retrieved
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919:November 11,
917:. Retrieved
913:the original
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886:November 11,
884:. Retrieved
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864:November 11,
862:. Retrieved
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822:November 12,
820:. Retrieved
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703:November 12,
701:. Retrieved
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609:November 11,
607:. Retrieved
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587:November 11,
585:. Retrieved
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52:Publisher(s)
40:Developer(s)
548:GamesRadar+
530:PC Magazine
491:Publication
406:Publication
374:Santa Claus
338:prank-calls
113:Educational
102:Mac, MS-DOS
72:Platform(s)
62:Designer(s)
1051:MECC games
1000:Categories
774:inCider/A+
632:inCider/A+
567:References
366:Easter egg
360:Easter egg
348:furniture.
336:A Muncher
1026:DOS games
991:MobyGames
397:Reception
392:Reception
342:nyah-nyah
310:Cutscenes
85:Macintosh
724:Compute!
536:PC World
450:MacWorld
278:Smarties
244:Bashfuls
229:) name:
227:binomial
215:monsters
209:Troggles
175:Gameplay
151:Apple II
108:Genre(s)
97:Apple II
77:Apple II
797:MacUser
751:MacUser
542:Pac-Man
516:MacUser
415:MacUser
268:Workers
254:Helpers
234:Reggies
223:species
119:Mode(s)
91:Release
818:. 2014
659:
545:game.
486:Awards
364:As an
297:Levels
155:MS-DOS
135:is an
81:MS-DOS
963:(PDF)
628:(PDF)
494:Award
409:Score
100:1990:
95:1986:
943:2020
921:2020
888:2020
866:2020
824:2020
705:2020
657:ISBN
611:2020
589:2020
559:and
157:and
149:for
147:MECC
56:MECC
45:MECC
989:at
802:IDG
778:IDG
636:IDG
377:hat
262:ant
159:Mac
1002::
905:.
832:^
800:.
794:.
776:.
772:.
754:.
748:.
737:^
721:.
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634:.
630:.
563:.
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370:25
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
