WORKING WITH EXPERTS

Amplify is a US-focused educational publisher reimagining the way teachers teach and students learn. At the heart of this ambition is a groundbreaking digital curriculum for K-12, focusing on Math, Science, English Language and the Arts.

We worked with Amplify to produce a series of games to be sold along with this core curriculum, designed for the Amplify Tablet and a variety of other platforms including iOS.

As part of our focus on Math, we created Crafty Cut to allow players to explore geometry and the relationship between 2D and 3D objects. The game was inspired by the geometry covered in the Common Core Standards and developed in collaboration with the Amplify Math Curriculum Team.

LEARNING THROUGH PLAY

Crafty Cut is a unique puzzle game that helps players develop spatial reasoning and explore the geometry of shapes across three exciting game modes and over 100 levels.

The game was designed to give students a hands-on experience of manipulating 3D objects, encouraging familiarity with the names and properties of 2D and 3D shapes, and creating confidence with them generally. The broader aim is to make Maths less intimidating by presenting it in a fun and visually arresting way.

HIGH CEILING GAMEPLAY FOR DIFFERENT LEVELS

Crafty Cut was carefully designed with ‘high ceilings’ – meaning it scales in complexity as the child’s confidence and understanding develops.

In Cut mode, players use an intuitive slicing mechanic to reveal new 2D facets from a series of ever more complex 3D shapes. Performance is based on the quality of the match and graded on a three-star criteria: correct number of sides, correct internal angles, and correct length of sides.

The star system controls the unlock of new modes, with Combine and then Rotate becoming available as the player progresses. Over 100 levels are available, offering progression through ‘Easy’, ‘Tricky’ and ‘Fiendish’ levels of difficulty.

Combine mode really puts the player’s powers of spatial reasoning to the test: three-dimensional shapes must be composed by correctly aligning smaller geometric fragments. Rotate mode is endless and requires quick thinking and even quicker shape-shifting to fit 3D shapes through 2D cut-outs in an advancing ‘wall’.

Crafty Cut was originally developed for roll out in schools, with a version made available on iOS.