Aladdin's Mathemagical Flying Carpet
An educational arcade game teaching multiplication tables through an Arabian Nights adventure.
Created by Shaun Pedicini
Aladdin's Mathemagical Flying Carpet is an edutainment game designed to teach basic addition and the multiplication table to children who relate more to Aladdin than to Alan Turing. Most people are unaware that in the original One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, the genie forces Aladdin to answer a series of progressively more difficult algebraic equations before Matt Damon shows up and spends the rest of the evening in a dungeon making Aladdin eat apples.
Why I Built This Game
I wrote this game a few years ago because my little brothers were encountering some difficulties in school learning their multiplication tables. The times tables (up to twelve) are typically taught using rote memorization, and it becomes less a question of mathematics and more a matter of simple recall.
That being the case, I set out to design a simple arcade-type game that would help them slowly improve their recall speed in a reasonably entertaining manner.
The Arabian Nights Theme
We're all big fans of the original animated Aladdin movie from 1992, so I made a design choice to use Aladdin as the core theme, specifically focusing on Aladdin's escape from the Cave of Wonders after he'd been trapped by Jafar. His eternal reward is getting to solve arithmetic problems.
Game Features & Customization
Aladdin's Mathemagical Flying Carpet is an educational game designed to help children learn the times table as well as simple addition. The game offers several customization options to tailor the learning experience:
- Flexible Number Groups: Activate or deactivate various numbers to help your child focus on certain number groups
- Learning Modes: Choose between text or voice mode to focus on either visual or auditory skills
- Progressive Difficulty: Game speed gradually increases as you venture deeper into the caves
- Power-ups: Collect special items to help you on your journey
How to Play
When the game begins, you can move Aladdin up or down using:
- Mouse (click and drag)
- Touch controls on iPad or tablet
- Arrow keys on your keyboard
He can only move up or down but hey, it's his first day riding a magic carpet, so what do you expect?
The game will present you with a math problem and two possible answers. Move Aladdin towards the correct answer, otherwise it is likely that he will get hit by an incoming boulder which both Jafar and I personally find hilarious.
Your Mission
The goal is to get as far as you can into the Cave of Wonders while collecting as many gems as possible!
After all, you don't want to be a street rat your whole life, do you?
Play Aladdin's Mathemagical Flying Carpet
Tip: For the best experience, click the fullscreen button in the game window.
Having trouble? The game works best in modern browsers with HTML5 support.