Games That Make You Smarter

AnnMaria De Mars

Barnyard with girl saying she can buy a cat if it is less than $15 — If you read the first post, you know the task was to create an activity where a player answers math problems and earns math items for the farm. The purpose of these first four posts was to create a page that looks like 5 (or 10) pages but is actually […]

Reusable code, part 4: html & css

May 18, 2016 in AnnMaria / Code Talk by AnnMaria De Mars

brinley — To refresh your memory – this particular activity gives the player a new item – cat, duck, goat, etc. , for their farm – for every math problem answered correctly. Obviously, this code can be re-used for any type of problem and any type of game where you collect objects, […]

Game Design: Re-usable code, part 3

May 11, 2016 in 7GenGames / AnnMaria / Code Talk / Dog food by AnnMaria De Mars

Angie and Brinley at Mario's farm — After spending almost all of the last 2 months traveling to conferences, school site visits and investor meetings, I am SO happy to be back in Santa Monica! Now that I am planted in the office again, game changes are just rolling out. Sometimes I get discouraged when it seems as […]

Never Underestimate Us

May 10, 2016 in AnnMaria / Game Progress by AnnMaria De Mars

ice cream cone — A few years ago, I happened to be in Vermont on a tour of the Ben and Jerry’s factory because, hello, ice cream! When our tour guide told the story about the company, there were lots of oohs from the audience about the romantic American dream story of the early […]

Let’s Kill the Myth of the Entrepreneur

May 6, 2016 in AnnMaria / Start-up Diaries by AnnMaria De Mars

small town in ND on lake — I feel sad for people who have never been told they are anything extraordinary. How do you know you can’t do something amazing if you never try? Small towns in Florida to small towns in North Dakota are full of people like Sam and Angie in the game, Forgotten Trail. […]

You Don’t HAVE TO be born in a small town ...

May 5, 2016 in AnnMaria / Game Progress by AnnMaria De Mars

Willie Davis — Guest post by Willie Davis, Turtle Mountain Ojibwe The Metis people are a mix of indigenous and European ancestry, and growing up in two cultures is never easy. When I was a young person, the native side emphasized developing leadership abilities, learning the culture and understanding the environment. The white side […]

My Personal View of the Forgotten Trail

May 3, 2016 in 7GenGames / Cultural content / Education: Innovation and STEM / Game Progress by AnnMaria De Mars

Adorable kid — Mother’s Day is this weekend and I’m sure what your mother would like most is for you to show up. So, number one, take Mom to brunch, lunch or dinner, it is the least you can do for all of the trouble you caused her – I know that and […]

Get your mom a school for Mother’s Day!

May 3, 2016 in 7GenGames / AnnMaria by AnnMaria De Mars

new page with background added and new activity — Today, for the first time in a month, I woke up in my own bed and had nothing scheduled. No meetings, no family events to attend. The happy thought that went through my mind is that now I can spend all day working on our new game, Forgotten Trail. Today, […]

Why the “game” part of math games is so important

April 30, 2016 in AnnMaria / Educational Games / Game Progress by AnnMaria De Mars

Eva, Maria and me — I get asked this question all of the time in many, many different contexts, from elementary school children who play our games, to game developers who are not involved in education. There are multiple questions for this, but let me answer the grown-ups first. I care so much about math […]

Why Do You Care So Much About Math?

April 30, 2016 in AnnMaria / Educational Games / Game Progress / Math by AnnMaria De Mars

cat — Well, it’s been a minute. Months ago, I started writing about reusable code and was then interrupted by flying around the country to present game results, getting an alpha version of our Aztech game to testers, getting Forgotten Trail ready for release FRIDAY (!!!) etc. You can read Part 1 […]

Game Design: Reusable Code, Part 2

April 27, 2016 in AnnMaria / Code Talk / Educational Games / Game Progress / Start-up Diaries by AnnMaria De Mars

I get this question all of the time, What’s it like working with your family? In case you don’t know, the three co-founders of 7 Generation Games are my husband, Dennis, me and my daughter, Maria. It’s not how most people seem to think. First of all, we’re not together […]

What’s it like working with your family? Part 347

April 26, 2016 in AnnMaria / Start-up Diaries by AnnMaria De Mars

Giant house screen shot — A few weeks ago, I posted an activity that I had started where the player had to find items in the giant’s house. (Brief background – in Forgotten Trail, there is a legend that involves a giant.) I asked input on options we were considering: Clicking on the item gives […]

Reader Comments Made into a Game

April 25, 2016 in AnnMaria / Game Progress by AnnMaria De Mars