Rogo Puzzle

Rogo Puzzle

Rogo Puzzle is a new Maths web site – free – that has a great puzzle for children. This puzzle is easy to learn how to play and will keep the children on task, motivated and learning. Rogo puzzle for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch was launched in December 2010. I am really excited as it is a New Zealand site so very applicable to our students.

Press release:

Rogo is the new kid on the increasingly popular puzzle block. Though designed originally for pencil and paper, Rogo has made the touch world of iPhone its own. Rogo will soon be played on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in subways, in waiting rooms, and even in classrooms in the US, Japan and China as well as in its home town of Christchurch, New Zealand. Rogo is completely new and original, a mixture of a maze, word-search and sudoku, with an innovative and intuitive interface. Appealing and easy to learn, Rogo is solved by drawing a loop of a designated length, avoiding obstacles and adding up numbers to collect points.

Each Rogo puzzle has a unique solution, which has been generated and tested using a special computer algorithm designed by Creative Heuristics Ltd. The idea for Rogo comes from the outdoor sport, rogaining, which involves using a map and compass to design and travel around a large area in a given amount of time. The mathematics behind it comes from the field of Operations Research. Doctors Shane Dye and Nicola Ward Petty, senior lecturers at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, are the directors of Creative Heuristics, and inventors of Rogo. They have developed Rogo for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in just over a year.

Trials of Rogo have shown it to be popular among school children of all ages, and right through to senior citizens wanting to keep their brains active. A test group of 12 year old pupils enjoyed the challenge of the paper-based version, saying, “It makes me focus hard on them, but in a relaxed way and you laugh when you are frustrated!”, “they are challenging but fun and make you think”. Maths teachers use paper Rogos to help students develop numeracy and problem-solving skills.

From Rogo web site

Rogo develops a variety of skills such as number recognition, adding, counting, problem solving and geometry. The puzzles can be adapted to teach specific number facts.

Currently you can download a new printable Rogo puzzle to play; a new one is available each day. You will also find instructions on how to solve Rogo on the web site.