PopMath

I typically don’t review apps that are targeted directly towards children, and I especially despise apps that require me to actually “think”, but I felt the need to prove to myself that I can still do PopMath’s elementary equations without turning to my iPhone’s space-age calculator. It’s a good idea to do things like this once in a while just to see how bad your age-induced stupidity has gotten.

The idea behind PopMath is simple: tap matching bubbles in succession so that the first bubble tapped is the mathematical equivalent of the second bubble. Of course I make it sound hard, but if you tap a bubble that says “4″, the next bubble you tap should say something like “2+2″ or maybe “5-1″.

Even after exterminating most of my brain cells with years of crazy binge drinking I was able to make it through 35 levels before getting distracted by a beer commercial, so that’s a pretty good indicator that an 8-year-old should be able to have a similar level of success. And if the kid fails miserably, well… no big deal! There are no timers in PopMath, no scoreboards to make you feel like a loser, and no in-game messages calling you a dumbass when you get something wrong. The bubbles float around to make things a little more game-like, but outside of that the game is super gentle on the ego.

I confess that I haven’t seen an actual child’s reaction to PopSoft’s math game, but if you’re a parent you might as well just fork over the dollar. You already believe that your child is some kind of mega-genius and your neighbors secretly think the kid’s dumb as a post (trust me, they do), so this is your big chance to prove them wrong!