Today’s blog is another review of a times tables app. I’ve already reviewed Math Ninja, which ended with an overall rating of 7/10. Today’s app is 10 Minutes A Day – let’s see how it compares to Math Ninja…
10 Minutes A Day Review
Cost: Free
The game is a racing game. Every time you answer a times table correctly, your car moves forward. You have to reach the finishing line before the other car. Each question is multiple choice.
The idea of the app is to play for 10 minutes each day (clue is in the name). In the top bar of the app (see below) there is a timer that sums up the time you spend in each race.
The idea is to play for 10 minutes each day and this timer is a good way of keeping track of it. I think this is a brilliant idea in principle. However, frustratingly, the timer does not reset each day so this feature does not work! I assume this is a bug. It would be ideal if it congratulated you when you reached 10 minutes in the day, or even gave you a reward.
You can choose to practice any times table from 1 to 12, as well as a combination of times tables. For example, you can practice 1s, 2s and 10s altogether, or 7s, 8s and 9s together. These seem arbitrary and it looks like a missed opportunity to allow practice of all times tables at random, or indeed choosing which times tables you want to practice. So you could say you want to practice your 6s, 4s, 7s and 9s if you know you are weak on them. This would be a really good feature, but unfortunately isn’t possible on this app.
On each times table, there are three levels – In Order, Random and Missing Number. Each of these three levels has three rounds. In each round you race against a different car. The car in Round 1 is the slowest (the easiest round) and the Formula 1 car in Round 3 is the fastest (the hardest round). I really like that your best time is listed at the bottom of each level. This leads to people trying to beat their previous best score and will incentivise players to do more times table practice.
The In Order level is obviously the easiest level, where you answer each times table in order. The Random level asks you times tables in a random order. The Missing Number level is a good feature. This is a really good way of practising times tables, and also improves your quick division skills. The level is also quite challenging (especially when racing against the faster Formula 1 car). Pictured below is an example of the Missing Number level.
Each time you complete a level, you earn a trophy – bronze for the In Order level, silver for the Random level and gold for the Missing Number level. Also, you can see the trophies you have earned on the main screen.
When you lose a race, you can review your times tables by clicking the “Hint” button and bring up this page (pictured below), which is a good feature.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Due to the race element, it forces you to answer quickly | There is a 1× level which seems very pointless |
| Your best times are displayed for each level | On each times table, you have to do the in order level first (cannot skip to harder level) |
| Missing number level really helps with times tables recall | The timer in the top bar of the app does not reset each day (this seems to be a bug) |
| No adverts | There is no option to practice all times tables at once |
| Completely free |
Conclusion
Overall I really like this app. I think the race element makes it enjoyable to play and also helpful for improving times tables recall. It’s just a shame that the timer does not reset each day as that would make the daily target of 10 minutes per day trackable.
Usability rating = 8/10 (how easy is the app to use and are there regular bugs?)
Enjoyability rating = 8/10 (how enjoyable is the app to play?)
Helpfulness rating = 8/10 (how much would using this app help improve a user’s times tables?)
Overall rating = 24/30
I hope you found this review helpful. Stay tuned for more reviews in future blogs.
If you are in Bristol and your child is struggling with times tables and think they would benefit from maths tutoring, book a free taster session.
Click here to read testimonials from some of our clients (and here for Google reviews).
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