Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/757002
000000 $1.34 395 Hamilton Row Birmingham 248-385-1313 www.voiladesign.biz NOW OPEN VOILA Boutique European Women Clothing M arc Konvisser, who taught math at Wayne State University until 1986 and then developed educational software, has created an online Scrabble-like game using numerals instead of letters. He was inspired to create Xumbers (pronounced "Zumbers") five years ago. "My granddaughter loved numbers," said Konvisser, 75, of Orchard Lake. "As a toddler, she had a play mat with removable numbers. She would walk around with them and take them to bed. But when she was in second grade, she wasn't doing well in math." He developed a crossword-style game, where players place number tiles on a board to create sums, to give his granddaughter a fun way to learn addi- tion. As he tested the game, he found it could be fun and challenging for adults as well. He sold the original Xumbers app for $1.99 to iPhone/iPad and Android users. When it didn't sell, he created Xumbers Free, a free app that includes ads, for iPhone and iPad. Then came ad-free Xumbers Social, available on iPhone and iPad, which lets players compare their scores with Facebook friends, and Xumbers 42 ("Zumbers For Two"), which Konvisser says is the "ultimate Xumbers." In Xumbers 42, players can match wits with their device but can also play with another person in real time, similar to the way Words With Friends is played. Xumbers 42 is available on iPhone, iPad and Android devices; it can also be played on a laptop or desk- top computer at www.xumbers.com. The board has a zero in its center. Players have seven tiles at a time. With each turn, they add tiles to an existing string of numbers that runs from left to right or top to bottom so that the last one or two tiles on the right or at the bottom form the sum of all the other tiles in the string. For example, a player could put down a 2, 1 and 3, with the 3 being the sum of 2 and 1. Then the next player could put a 6 at the end (2 plus 1 plus 3). Or the next player could put a 5 in front of the 2 and two 1s at the end to show that 11 is the sum of 5, 2, 1 and 3. The first player earns one point for each number used in the sum. The next player earns a point for any of the first player's numbers used in the new sum as well as a point for any new tiles placed. A player who uses all seven tiles earns a five-point bonus. The game ends after 10 rounds of play. Players can choose from three levels of play, from beginner to expert. Konvisser, a member of Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park, regularly plays Xumbers 42 with his sister-in-law, Mary Deutschman of Cleveland. They each take a turn once a day. Cynthia Denman started playing Xumbers last year. "It is somewhat harder than it sounds, mainly because I sometimes move before I have thought it out. It makes me slow down and think and makes me use arithmetic skills that don't get used on a daily basis. Konvisser admits he's not in this to get rich. Apple charges him $99 a year just to put the game in its App Store and, because it's free and all but the Xumbers Free version are ad-free, he doesn't get any income from down- loads. Now he's working on a physical version people can play at home. * Marc Konvisser with his Xumbers online game Barbara Lewis metro » 10 December 1 • 2016 Barbara Lewis | Contributing Writer New online game features math. Xumbers!