A Beautiful Maths Game
sinerider.comOh hey, that's my game! I am so pleased you are enjoying it. This is a remake of a game I first published way back in 2014. This version was built by team of 22 high-schoolers from around the world, recruited through Hack Club (https://hackclub.com), where I have worked since 2018.
For anyone who just wants a sense of what the game is like without the fuss of playing it, here is the launch trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35nDYoIwiA8
Thanks for creating it. I love maths, and this was very pleasing to play. Have you published any other projects similar to this one? I mean, the ones that would be relevant for non-schoolers as well?
It doesn't seem to work, though, no matter how many times i click on 'click here' or in what browser.
Thanks for your great work! I like the drawing and music very much!
Hey congratulations!, such a great concept, so much fun!
I think there's a good idea in there, but it's likely to confuse as is. It seems unhelpful at best to have the task to be to determine a function involving only x and y, but then you to have to click on t, and somehow that implicitly changes x and y values.
They should, in my view, have had y as a function of t, and dropped x. Or another solution that doesn't create confusion.
I also think it's weird that changing the equation changes the shape of the mountain, but the text is about changing the path of the sled.
> They should, in my view, have had y as a function of t, and dropped x.
Then you could have only had a flat floor that moved up and down. If you need shape that changes, you need it to be a function of both x and t.
So e.g. (x-t)^2 / 5 is a parabola shaped "bowl" that moves right at 1 unit per second.
Yeah sorry I wasn't clear. What I meant was that they are setting x=t but not saying that.
The function sets the shape of the curve that the skier skis down. It is not the path of the skier vs time. (Gravity works, you can jump, etc).
In later levels, you use t to make a floor that actually moves.
The relationship between y and x is the coordinate plane behind the level (you can hold down right click to see it, IIRC).
I understand the confusion now. What they mean is that you're determining the shape of the mountain top using an equation, and then the skier is skiing along that mountain top according to gravity. But they don't say that.
Instead they say the task is to set path of skier - i.e. how the skier goes down the mountain. But that's not correct - the skier obviously doesn't need to just follow the mountain top. Common sense/reality is the opposite - you rarely just follow a mountain top.
If they'd just said the above, and I think not shown the value of t, it would have been a lot clearer, at least to me.
If in later levels they show formula(s) using gravity, and perhaps show the skier on different planets, with different values of G, then I can see the value in showing the value of t. But as it is, I think it's confusing.
There are two separate equations here, one is the slope of the mountain, which is a function of x and a value of y and one is the path of the sled, which is a function of t, with a value of (x,y)
But nowhere (at least in the first couple of levels) does it refer to the slope of the mountain - it says the task is to find "the path of the sled".
But even ignoring that, nowhere does it define the relationship between t and x. What I assume they mean but don't say is that x=t. That's arbitrary.
Also I assume you mean the path of the sled is (t, f(t)) where f is the function defining the slope. If the path of the sled had a value of (x,y) it would be stationary :)
Seeing how the shape of the mountain IS the path of the sled, how does changing the shape of the mountain NOT change the path for you?
The path is flat by default, and mostly flat by initial expression. So it might not strike someone that the shape of the path is a mountain shape.
Perhaps "the shape of a path down a mountain" would make everyone happy.
the first example shows multiple curves in the path. Did not press past that as it was obvious to me what the game was going to be and I didn't have time to play games. If there is something after that starting with a flat plane, how did one get there and not see the curved example?
I understand the confusion now. What they mean is that you're determining the shape of the mountain top using an equation, and then the skier is skiing along that mountain top according to gravity. But they don't say that. Instead they say the task is to set path of skier - i.e. how the skier goes down the mountain. But that's not correct - the skier obviously doesn't need to just follow the mountain top. Common sense/reality is the opposite - you rarely just follow a mountain top.
If they'd just said the above, and I think not shown the value of t, it would have been a lot clearer, at least to me.
If in later levels they show formula(s) using gravity, and perhaps show the skier on different planets, with different values of G, then I can see the value in showing the value of t. But as it is, I think it's confusing.
This looks pretty but it's very confusing and I have no idea what it wants from me. It says 'click here!' so I did but nothing came of it.
Yep, that's a bit bad UX. You're supposed to click on what the "Click here!" bubble points to, not on the bubble itself.
You don't click on 'click here' but the 't' nearby (which i noticed renders off screen on my phone but not on my computer).
I really like this. I'm revisiting math after a couple of decades off, and my son is getting into pre-calculus-ish topics in school, and I'm going to share it with him.
It definitely has a few rough edges, though. The equation in the first screen has the right behavior but is complex enough to probably be concerning for the target audience, and I'm not sure it clearly spells out what the player is going to be doing in the greater game. `y = x` is a great actual starting point and it clicked for me then. I'm not sure how to thread that first-level needle from a design perspective, to be honest.
Again, though, I do really like it. There's some trial-and-error on each level (at least for me) but I think that's part of what could make it an effective learning tool.
Doesn't seem to work on Chrome on OSX. I see a sort of LineRider-esque game screen, with an equation Y=(some math) at the bottom middle, and a button that just says "click here!" at the bottom right. There's also a mountain and a gear at upper right and upper left respectively.
Clicking on the button that says "click here!" has no effect.
Clicking on the equation allows me to change it; this changes the slope of the ski slope. I think what's supposed to happen here is that when you change the slope under the sled to be non-horizontal, the sled should start moving — sliding down the slope you just created, toward the second snowman. But that doesn't happen in Chrome.
Clicking on the mountain leads to what I assume is a level-selection screen; I didn't investigate further.
Clicking on the gear leads to a settings screen; I didn't investigate further.
There's no obvious tutorial or "help text" button.
Also, the site doesn't really deal with the browser's back button correctly. I'm not sure what it's doing, but it seems to fill up the history with instances of itself, maybe on every click, which made it... more difficult than necessary... to get back to HN afterward.
Click the green box that says t=0, next to where it says Click here.
It looks nice. The movement is smooth and elegant. However, I really don't understand what the essential play loop is supposed to be. Is this about graphs? Calculus? Physics? Am I solving puzzles? Taking quizzes?
You're getting the gist of how to transform functions in a fun way.
This is perfect for middle school kids to understand functions. How do you zoom on the big map though?
Thank you!! I recommend taking a look at the later levels, it goes beyond a middle-school level of complexity! I have seen everyone from graduate students to tenured math professors to Grant Sanderson get stumped by late-game SineRider. It doesn't really fit neatly into any specific age group or "grade level"
The map should zoom with scroll, is that not working?
Perhaps it's something to do with my touchpad scrolling that makes it not work
I didn't care about the characters. so just did iterative +1 and +x everywhere
Love this. Well done!
Ok that's brilliant
Well done!