Building mindfulness into a game
With a few thoughtful tweaks, we adapted one of our existing children’s games into a new activity, suitable for kids and adults alike.
The original game concept is used in both the Airport maths activities in Town Squared (above), but with a few simple changes to the design, we can completely change the feel, context and purpose.
In the Town Squared Airport activities, children use addition or subtraction skills to link numbered cells in a grid, to create a chain that equals a target number. Once the target number is achieved, those cells drop away and the grid is repopulated, ready for the child to find another way to make the target number. This core interaction is referred to as a “game mechanic”. Starting with single digits and simple addition tasks, the game increases in complexity so kids are thinking hard about how to combine numbers to achieve the target. The game is wonderfully satisfying to play and can become quite fast-paced and complex at advanced levels.
The sense of flow that comes with this game mechanic is really satisfying. Despite the mathematical challenge, colours and animations, it is easy to focus on the task - in fact, I realised it is not too dissimilar to a mindfulness activity.
With this in mind, I was interested in how we might be able to leverage this game mechanic to explore a few additional concepts:
What other game elements encourage planning and deliberate actions?
Can we set the game at a comfortable complexity for kids to adults?
Can we introduce additional consequences for increasing challenge, but don’t create anxiety?
Finally, how can we make this an experience that players will want to play regularly, but in short bursts?
The result: Finding 20!
Finding 20 is a daily mindful activity, designed to focus the mind and give you a short break from the chaos of the day.
How to play
Your task is to find the longest combination of numbers to equal 20.
You can start anywhere on the grid. To create your chain, tap numbers that are vertically or horizontally adjacent, but not diagonal.
And remember, negative numbers will make for longer chains.
Keep on going until your chain adds up to 20.
Create five chains, compare your best with the rest of the world, then get back to your day having enjoyed a quiet moment.
A new puzzle is released daily at midnight (UTC).