With the increase and availability of devices, there has been a shift in the types of games people play. Video or electronic gaming has become more widely played than traditional board games and thus with the shift in preference of players, videogame industry has expanded its wings to not just a mode of entertainment but also as a treatment to solve problems sometimes. Educational gaming is one of such type which has stormed the industry.
Game-based learning or educational gaming is a type of gameplay that has defined learning outcomes. Generally, game-based learning is designed to balance subject matter with gameplay. Walking on the same route Indore, Madhya Pradesh based mobile gaming and service providing company SM Multimedia has launched Snowy Maths recently, an educational game focuses on enhancing mathematical calculations and time management skills as SM Multimedia founder and CEO Saurabh Misra told to us.
The game contains four basic operations of mathematics which includes DMAS (division, multiplication, addition and subtraction). Entire games revolve around using logic for solving the questions in the game, it also helps in enhancing mathematical calculations and time management skills. According to Mishra, “On initialising the game the first operation you face is addition, then subtraction, then multiplication and in last is division. Ones the individual operation gets over you’ll start facing all the operations randomly which is you’ll have no idea which operation will come in front of your eyes. Finally, the most important point which will enhance your skills is the time duration. Yes, the duration you have to face each question is five seconds. That means you have to use your calculation skills as well as logical skills in order to solve questions in five seconds.”
The game is available on Android right now although the company is planning to launch iOS version of the game in the month of June, along with the latest update of Android version. They mostly develop games and apps on Android SDK, HTML5, Unity and Construct 2.
On one hand, the organisation works as a game developer, on the other hand they work as a service provider and this is the story of almost all indie game developers. On asked how he developed the idea, he replied, “When we started SM Multimedia we were into VR and other services, dealing with clients and all. The entire time I wanted to start in-house production apart from service providing. So, when I discussed this with my team we came out with a solution of starting a gaming studio. Since few of us had already worked and had experiences in gaming companies we were sure about developing it. So, that was the time we initiated our gaming studio.”
In addition to that Mishra also believes that studios work as service providers for liquidity in finance. As in recent time “gaming business is not too profitable for new startups or small brands. There are many guidelines of Google that we need to follow in order to generate revenue in terms of advertisements or in-app purchases” he added.
Thinking of the gaming scenario when we asked Mishra, will his studio be open to collaborate with other studios for game development he says “I would love to do that if anybody is interested. In fact, we are in discussion with few companies where they have developers and concept but they are looking for a company to design all their games.”
It’s been few weeks since Snowy Maths launched, however, the design process of layouts and assets from the time of ideation took three years and as far the response is concerned he replied: “it has been good enough for me.”
Putting further light on social gaming or game-based learning he believes that it can never replace the traditional method of education. However “What I think is that you can explore more competition and real-time playing experience in social gaming but in order to do so you need the need for your basic and traditional education. Both of them have their separate values,” he added.
Their goal is to develop more educational products like games and apps for people and they have already two projects in the pipeline after the launching updates of Snowy Maths. The game can be used by each and every individual. “ There is no age restriction for playing out our games,” said he.
When we asked how he will inspire budding developers he replied “ I just say one thing to people who are willing to start up a new venture or are working on any project to stay consistent and have patience. It’s not necessary that your first project will be a hit but if you keep working and have patience you surely will succeed. No matter what everybody says just keep working and remember Rome Was Not Built In A Day”.