Teddy Bear Math

A cute, bouncy Teddy Bear does a fine job of teaching younger children how to add, in this month's special ST Disk Bonus. Teddy Bear Math was written in GFA BASIC and runs in medium resolution only, requiring a color monitor.

Teddy Bear Math is the fifth Pratt and Everman ST game published in this magazine just since March 1988. It showcases the prolific team's smooth, colorful, professional-quality game creation. When the flashy title screen gives way to the main playing screen, you'll see two scales-each scale "weighing" a number. Two sets of numbers from 0 to 9 are at the top of the screeen, a complete set above each scale.

With a joystick or the [ARROW] keys, move Teddy until he's standing over a number. Then push the stick down (backwards), or press the [DOWN-ARROW] key. Teddy will jump up and down on your chosen number until he dislodges it for a graceful descent onto the scale.

If the sum of the numbers on both scales are equal, then the scales balance and Teddy will leap for joy. If not, then you'll have to try again. And if there's too much of a difference between the scales, you'll "tilt."

The object of Teddy Bear Math is to come up with the right answer in as few moves as possible. The program calculates how many numbers are required for balancing the scales in the fewest additional turns. When the child gets the right answer, game difficulty is automatically increased. After a wrong answer, the game automatically picks easier numbers. That's how Teddy Bear Math continually stays within the difficulty range of each individual child.

There are two versions of this ST bonus on the Antic Monthly Disk. You can use TEDMATH.PRG even if you don't own the GFA BASIC programming language. Or for the original GFA BASIC source code run TEDMATH.BAS. For instructions on how to transfer Teddy Bear Math to an ST disk, read the Linkline HELP file on Side B of the Antic Monthly Disk. Select main menu choice 5 to get to the HELP menu.

On the Antic Disk: TEDMATH.PRG Download
, TEDMATH.BAS Download