Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy
Developer(s)Lucas Learning
Publisher(s)Lucas Learning
ReleaseSeptember 1, 2000
Genre(s)Educational
Mode(s)Single-player

Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy is an educational Star Wars game released by Lucas Learning in 2000 for Windows and Macintosh. The game used characters from The Phantom Menace to teach kids basic maths skills.[1]

Development

"Our main goal with Star Wars Math was to create an engaging game for kids, that still has all the components parents are looking for: recognizable math content, high replayability, and an overarching goal with lots of rewards and encouragement. We wanted to go beyond the standard math drill and practice software game and excite kids about math in a new and fun way that was well integrated with the Star Wars universe".

— Collette Michaud, project leader for Lucas Learning, The Force[2]

After working on various games as LucasArts - the last of which was Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion, Collette Michaud helped to found the children's edutainment-themed sister company Lucas Learning and served as project leader and designer of Droidworks and Star Wars Math Jabba’s Game Galaxy. Early on, a few Lucas Learning employees met with George Lucas at Skywalker Ranch to discuss his goals or creating learning software for children, which led to Lucas offering some early notes for DroidWorks. Lucas soon became preoccupied with the Star Wars prequel trilogy and he didn't offer much interaction after that, including for Star Wars Math.[3]

Star Wars Math was one of the six titles who went into direct-to-school distribution by Lucas Learning.[4][5]

Buying via the LucasArts Company Store, customers could get a limited-edition magnetic jigsaw puzzle.[6]

Plot and gameplay

The aim of the game is to build spaceships and travel around the galaxy. This is achieved by playing minigames to earn credits, which can then be exchanged with Watto for spaceship parts.

Players play minigames based on popular games such as Dueling Dice (a simplified version of blackjack) and Holochex, called Dejarik in the Star Wars Universe (based on checkers), which was first seen in Star Wars: A New Hope.[7]

Each of the minigames "supports the content standards for primary grades developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)".[8]

Critical reception

Macworld praised the animation, though felt the educational content was lacking.[9] Newsday and The Washington Times liked the "extraordinary" animation and the Hollywood soundtrack, ultimately deeming it a fun experience for fans of the franchise.[10][11] The Washington Times liked that the game's construction "slyly" taught players basic arithmetic and logic in a "totally fun" way that made the reviewer smile.[12] Daily Campus disliked the character of Watto, though felt he was redeemed in games such as Star Wars Math.[13] Chron felt the minigames were "agreeably atmospheric and offbeat", though felt they were more work than play.[14] Vandal asserted that in the oeuvre of Star Wars titles, this is one of the few educational games, and requires players to do continuous mathematical calculations.[15] Allgame felt the game contained both good and bad elements of design.[16]

The Parenting Center honoured it as a Seal of Approval Winner Holiday 2000.[17]

Awards and accolades[18]

  • Holiday 2000: The National Parenting Center, Seal of Approval
  • November 2000: NewMedia INVISION Award, Gold: Hard Media - Education Kids 7-12
  • October 2000: Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum - Best Toy Award
  • October 2000: Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children's Products for 2000
  • October 2000: Dr. Toy's 10 Best Software/CD-Rom/High Tech Products for 2000
  • September 2000: Children's Software Revue, All Star Software 2000 Award

References

  1. ↑ Frank (2017-12-23). ""Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy" Computer Game Review". Video Games, Wikis, Cheats, Walkthroughs, Reviews, News & Videos. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  2. ↑ "TheForce.Net - Collecting - Lucas Learning Unveils Two New Titles".
  3. ↑ "the Collette Michaud Interview | Slope's Game Room on Patreon". Patreon. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  4. ↑ "TheForce.Net - Video Games - Lucas Learning Focuses on Direct-to-School". www.theforce.net. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  5. ↑ "Lucas Learning - Press Releases - Lucas Learning Offers Educational Software Library". 2002-06-08. Archived from the original on 2002-06-08. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  6. ↑ "TheForce.Net - Latest News - C-News 8.4.2000". www.theforce.net. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  7. ↑ "Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy". Macworld. 2000-12-01. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  8. ↑ "Lucas Learning - Press Release Archives - Math in a Whole New Way, In That Galaxy Far, Far Away - Lucas Learning Releases Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy". 2002-12-09. Archived from the original on 2002-12-09. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  9. ↑ "Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy". Macworld. 2000-12-01. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  10. ↑ Katz Gibbs, Hope (September 26, 2000). "Math Games For Star Wars' Young Fans". Newsday. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  11. ↑ "Install Now?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  12. ↑ "Star Wars math multiplies fun, learning". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  13. ↑ "Learning to like Watto from 'Star Wars,' for all his horribleness". The Daily Campus. Archived from the original on 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  14. ↑ Reeks, Anne (2000-09-08). "At Home: Games from 2 kids' icons offer more work than play". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  15. ↑ "Star Wars y los Videojuegos (III)". Vandal (in European Spanish). 31 March 2005. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  16. ↑ "Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy - Review - allgame". 2014-11-16. Archived from the original on 2014-11-16. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  17. ↑ "Seal of Approval Winner Holiday 2000 Star Wars Math: Jabba's Game Galaxy : The National Parenting Center". 29 July 2013. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  18. ↑ "Lucas Learning - Awards - Star Wars Software Products". 2002-02-08. Archived from the original on 2002-02-08. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
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