Shoot'em Up Math
by ANDREW SILBERSTEIN
This is a fairly simple program which allows children to learn arithmetic and have fun at the same time. The program has no machine language subroutines, and movement does not become progressively faster or more difficult.
If you're a parent who wishes to learn BASIC in order to write educational programs for your children, you might start with this listing. Type it in, play with it, and let your kids play with it. Study the listing and try to determine which parts of the program perform the various functions. Then try modifying a copy of the program (not the original). You may, for instance, wish to have the program pose subtraction and division problems; or, you could have the program use two-digit numbers.
To play the game, first plug in your joystick. You must shoot the numbers with the fire button as they fall downward. If you hit two numbers in a row, an arithmetic problem that uses those two numbers appears at the bottom of the screen. You type in the answer, and if you're correct, the answer's value is added to your score. You start with ten men. If a number hits the bottom, you lose a man, and if the number hits you directly, you lose five men. You also lose a man for giving a wrong answer.
Listing:MATHSHOT.BAS Download