Number Munchers is an
educational game initially made available for
DOS,
Apple II
and
Mac computers, designed for children 8 years of age and older. Winner of the
Classroom Computer Learning Readers' Choice Award for
Programs of the Decade,
Number
Munchers
was the
archetypal math game of the
1980's --
Oregon Trail and the
Carmen
Sandiego series hold this honour for their respective
genres. Later,
Fraction
Munchers,
Word Munchers and
Math Munchers would appear.
Created by MECC (the Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation, now The Learning
Company) in the mid eighties, Number Munchers promotes rudimentary math and
motor skills. From the box:
With the Muncher's help, you'll learn basic math skills the fun and exciting way.
Earn points as your Muncher matches and munches multiples,
factors, primes, equalities, and inequalities. But
there's trouble brewing all around the game board. Mischevious Troggles will
stop at nothing to make it difficult for you and your Muncher to maneuver successfully
through the games. And if you earn enough points, you could even qualify for the
Muncher Hall of Fame.
The
player navigates their
Number Muncher through a six-by-five
grid using the
arrow
keys or a
joystick,
eating (removing) all of the
functions that
conform to that
level using the
space bar.
In the first three levels, only one
Troggle appears. In levels four through seven, two
Troggles appear and in levels eight and higher, the player must contend with three
Troggles.
May God have mercy on your soul.
Each level can be of five types:
Every three levels, an amusing
cutscene appears in which
Troggles are defeated in a humourous manner.
A typical Number Munchers level appears:
Level: 3 Equals 7
+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| | | 14/2 | 1x15 | | 33-9 |
+------+------==----==------+------+------+
| | 3+4 | | 12+5 | | 35/5 |
+------+------==----==------==----==------+
| | | T | | 11/1 | |
+------+------+------+------==----==------+
| T | 12-5 | | | N | |
+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| 1+6 | 7-0 | | 5+2 | 14-7 | 49/7 |
+------+------+------+------+------+------+
Score: 350
Where
T = a Troggle
N = the player's Number Muncher
Regions surrounded by '='s are safety zones -- Troggles that attempt to
enter one of these squares disappear.
The Cast:
Number Muncher (Munchicus digitus)
The Troggles:
Reggies (Trogglus normalus)
Reggie Troggles cross the playing field, leaving different problems in their
wake.
Bashfuls (Trogglus timidus)
Like Reggie Troggles, Bashful Troggles also wander across the
playing field changing problems.
Smarties (Trogglus smarticus)
Smartie Troggles follow the Number Muncher in an attempt to catch it.
Helpers (Trogglus assistus)
Helper Troggles cross the playing field, removing problems.
Workers (Trogglus laborus)
Helper Troggles cross the playing field, adding new problems.
One unattributed '
cheat' for
Number Munchers is circulating:
The player can pass through Troggles headed straight towards them when the
Troggle is approaching from an adjacent square.
Of course, here's the obligatory poor
ASCII Art representation of the
protagonist (generated via a tool named
ASCII Pic 2.0 and massaged by hand):
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See my home node pic for a shot of the Number Munchers hero.