Dive Brief:

• Amplify Learning this week launched its first direct-to-consumer educational game, Twelve A Dozen, which aims to teach students Algebra in a fun, visually engaging way.
• As a direct-to-consumer option, the $4.99 game doesn't require an iPad or Amplify Tablet to play.
• The goal of Amplify's game division is to capture the attention of students during their "free time," and in order to do this, the company enlisted the help of commercial game developers, wanting to give their products the same captivating design.  

Dive Insight:

Last year when announcing the game division, CEO Joel Klein described the company's goals, saying,  “Our games are like nothing you’ve ever seen. We’re not designing homework here. These games will improve learning not because kids have to play them in school, but because they want to play them in their own free time.” Having engaging design seems to be working in their favor. If kids want to stare at it they will probably want to play it. Enlisting commercial game developers was also a good idea for blending the two worlds. Just because it's learning doesn't mean it has be boring, and Amplify seems to get that.