DigiHog Drop

DigiHog Drop is an activity in JumpStart Study Helpers Math Booster. It is intended to teach math for 1st-5th graders.

Description
Pastel-colored creatures known as DigiHogs love eating numbers and have overeaten them. The user must give them relief by using a machine that will squeeze them, causing them to hiccup.

The machine consists of five tubes, each filled with DigiHogs, one on top of the other. DigiHogs in the first, third, and fifth tubes have numbers on their bellies, while DigiHogs in the second tube have operation symbols and DigiHogs in the fourth tube have equal signs. Near the bottom of the machine are adjacent sections of tube with a yellow backdrop, forming a row in which the user seeks to form a correct math equation. This is accomplished by clicking on an arrow button on any tube, which will advance that column of DigiHogs downward by one. When the user believes he or she has formed a correction equation in the yellow row, the lever must be clicked; if they are successful, Frankie will pull the lever, the DigiHogs will hiccup, and he or she can proceed to form the next equation. Immediately below the yellow row is a row full of recycling symbols; if a DigiHog is dropped to that row, it will be placed back at the top of the tube and can be used in a future equation. If a DigiHog is dropped further, it will simply fall down and cannot be used again. The number of equations required to "win" depends on the Game Play Level, but even after all these equations have been formed, Frankie will allow the player to make more equations if it is possible to make more. If the user runs out of DigiHogs before he or she creates enough correct equations, the puzzle and score will be reset and he or she must start again. The puzzle also contains Undo and Reset buttons; the Reset button may be clicked at any time during play to reset the puzzle, while the Undo button may be used to undo the last move the player has made but cannot be used multiple times in a row.

Unlike the other activities in the game, the user cannot play using any of the options from the Content Chooser which involve fractions, percentages, or decimals.

Skill (academic) level
See JumpStart Study Helpers Math Booster; also supports custom lists made with the editor

Game Play level

 * Easy: Four questions must be answered to complete the activity.
 * Medium: Five questions must be answered to complete the activity.
 * Hard: Six questions must be answered to complete the activity.

Digital manual description
Game Play Instructions

The DigiHogs love numbers and everything math-related so much that they will eat every number and math symbol that comes by till they get totally sick. The only way to help them feel better is to use the Hiccup Machine. Answer equations correctly, and the Hiccup Machine will cause the DigiHogs to hiccup and ease their aching stomachs.

Trivia

 * Despite the fact that the activity does not support fractions, percentages, and decimals and normally prevents the player from accessing them (by disallowing the player from playing the activity if an option with these kinds of problems has been chosen in the Content Chooser, and disallowing them from selecting such an option from the Content Chooser while playing the game), an oversight makes it possible to access a non-functioning version of Review Level 5, which contains fractions. If the user is using the Review Level 4 option from the Content Chooser, the game will automatically advance to Review Level 5 after they have played successfully for a while. However, the activity is unplayable in this state, as clicking any of the arrow buttons will simply cause all the DigiHogs to disappear and the puzzle to be reset.
 * Even though the player is allowed to drop DigiHogs in the column containing only equal sings, there is never any gameplay benefit to doing so.
 * Even though there is an option in the Editor to solve problems from right to left (e.g. _ = 1 + 5) rather than left to right (e.g. 5 + 1 = _), and this option works with Asteroid Smash and Galactic Pinball, it has no effect on DigiHog Drop; operational symbols will always be in the second column and equal signs will always be in the fourth column.