Mystery Math Town - A Whole Lotta Love

Today is our Creative Director's birthday.

She did all of the art in Mystery Math Town.

Happy Birthday Lis.

Love,

Apple

(p.s. the beer is in the mail)

Mystery Math Town - Front Page News!

Yes, that's the front page of the iPad App Store.

And yes, that's Mystery Math Town, a Featured New and Noteworthy selection.

It is truly satisfying to be recognized by Apple for our new game, and while we believed all along that Mystery Math Town is special and worthy of distinction, it's another thing entirely to get noticed in a sea of over 300,000 iPad apps.

We've had lots of support from some good people along the way, from a great group of testers who helped us to make the best game possible, to our network of friends, educators and fans, who helped make this the most successful app launch ever for our little company, Artgig Apps.

As our very own Elvis-impersonating crooner, Hank, is fond of saying, it feels like we "have so many fans, even a computer couldn't count them all, baby."

Thanks for all of your help.

We really do appreciate it.

Now we've got a certain Tiger to tangle with at #7 on the Education charts...

Mystery Math Town for iPad

Download Mystery Math Town v.1.0 For iPad Today!

The wait is over.

Australia was the first to report the news last night...

Our new kids educational game, Mystery Math Town, is available on the App Store today.

If you need further evidence, it says so right here - in this press release.

We hope you'll have as much playing it, as we had making it.

If you do find your kids enthralled in our math mystery, please take a moment to leave an iTunes rating or review.

It really does help others to find us.

And as long as people keep downloading our apps, we can keep making great games for kids.

Enjoy!

Mystery Math Town For iPad Available on the App Store Today

Mystery Math Town Arrives For iPad Tomorrow...

Can you stand the suspense?

Just one more day and our new educational game, Mystery Math Town, can be yours.

We shared an advance preview with teachers, parents, and app reviewers, and here's what they are saying:

"My students liked having to explore the the houses.  It gave them a choose your own adventure style gameplay that they loved.  By giving them the freedom to explore, you've created a game the kids are eager to get back to." 

– Sarah Emerling, Teacher/Reviewer Fun Educational Apps 

"Be afraid, very afraid of how much joy your child will experience while learning basic math skills with this friendly, ghost led adventure Mystery Math Town - 5/5 stars.

– Mitchell Cogert, Kids Best iPad Apps

"If any of my readers have been to Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom lately, you may have noticed a new technical integration of talking paintings that guide you through the park in order to solve a mystery.  While exploring Mystery Math Town on my device this memory of Magic Kingdom came to mind as I opened doors, zipped down stairs and interacted with talking paintings or animated objects within each room while doing math."

– Andrea Gardner, Applicable2U

I'm going to stop right there, because once somebody mentions Mystery Math Town in the same breath as Disney World, well, there's really nothing more I can add.

See you tomorrow.

Mystery Math Town Available in the App Store Tomorrow, April 3

Making a Difference - One Educational App at a Time

I hope you had a nice Easter.

I went out yesterday with the family - my two kids (ages 7 and 2+), my wife, and my dad and stepmom, for a nice dinner.

And yes, we're one of those families who brings the iPads to the table when we dine out.

As we were finishing our meal, my stepmom, who is a PR specialist, asked me about our new Mystery Math Town app and in an instant my 7-year-old son was giving her a demo.

As he was playing the game, the restaurant manager wandered by and glanced over his shoulder - and stopped.

He stood there, watching my son play the game for a few seconds and looked up, nodding his head with a big smile, "very educational," he said.

At that point everyone at the table leapt into salesperson mode, explaining that my company made the game and that it would be available to the public on Wednesday.

When he told us that he had a 3-year-old at home and he was looking for good apps for her, my nearly three-year-old daughter whipped out another iPad to show him Alien Buddies.

He was duly impressed.

And when it came time to leave, he went out of his way to shake my hand and he thanked me for doing something that makes a difference.

It's hard work making apps and even harder work making successful apps, but it's important to remember success can be measured in many ways.

Making a difference means a lot.

Mystery Math Town Available April 3

Mystery Math Town Coming Next Week For Your iPad

We got good news from Apple today - Mystery Math Town is Approved and Ready for Sale in the App Store!

But you can't have it...yet.

You won't actually see it in the App Store until next week.

We scheduled the availability date beyond the expected approval date so we can control the launch.

It's a far cry from the usual fire drill that erupts when an app is approved and set to go live immediately, inevitably when you're walking out the door after a long day cracking wise on Twitter.

In fact, it's so calm and peaceful around here, I could go for a nap right now.

I just want to collect one more portrait for my Gallery first...

Sorry, I'm teasing again.

Mystery Math Town Available April 3. 

mysterymathtown.com

Marble Math Apps Win ON for Learning Awards From Common Sense Media

Marble Math and Marble Math Junior have each received a 2013 ON for Learning Award from Common Sense Media.

The award is given to the apps, games, and websites that received the highest rating for learning potential from Common Sense.

We're especially excited because our apps won 2 of only about 50 awards this year.

And we're in good company - here's the list of Winners:

2013 Common Sense Media ON for Learning Award Winners

Now I'm going to see if I can talk Steve into parachuting into the ceremony tonight at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco dressed as one of the Mystery Math Town characters to promote our new app.