Thursday, December 10, 2020

Inch Worm on Mac.


Inch Worm is now available on Macs. Thanks to Apple's Catalyst library, only a few minor changes were needed to port it from the iPad/iPhone to Mac.

Kids develop problem-solving skills by facing challenges, getting stuck, struggling a bit, then finding the solution. A little giggling always helps.

https://apps.apple.com/...


Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Rings 1.1

We’ve just released Rings 1.1. The graphics are now PDFs, which are both smaller and crisper, especially on larger devices.

Rings is an addictive collection of 32 puzzles that will challenge your skills in problem solving sequencing, and pattern matching. It looks easy. Just slide the rings to the matching positions. It gets hard. Here’s level 2. Can you figure it out?


Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Inch Worm 4.2

I've just released Inch Worm 4.2. It looks great on the new iPhones, without any tweaking.

Inch Worm is a collection of strategy puzzles for kids. They lead Inch home, past various characters including cherries, acorns, snails, ladybugs, and dragonflies. The characters are introduced gradually, and each provides a new challenge. Inch Worm provides plenty of fun, along with tons of practice in planning, problem solving, logic and spatial relationships.

whitepixels.com/inchworm




Friday, September 7, 2018

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

It’s been exactly two years since Inch Worm 1.0 hit the app store. Since then the quality and sophistication has improved, and the White Pixels collection has grown to four puzzle games.


Building the Audience

My satisfaction comes from kids playing these games and deepening their critical thinking skills. I’m spending some time this fall trying to build the audience.

These apps have a surprising international market, with downloads from 30+ different countries. All four apps occasionally break into the top 100, and even the top 10 in several categories (Kids 9-11, Educational Games, Family Games, and Puzzle Games) – in the Czech Republic, thanks to Mensa ČR. It’s a lot tougher in the bigger markets, where I’m still waiting for my big break.


Ways to Help


App Store star ratings and reviews are essential. If you and your kids have enjoyed these games, head back to the App Store and let others know. You can also help spread the word on social media. Thanks for your help!

Thursday, June 7, 2018

Rings 1.0



Rings by White Pixels
Unique Transport Puzzles


Slide the rings along the paths to the matching positions. 
Go ahead. Try to figure out the puzzle shown above. 
It's just one from a large collection.


Thursday, April 19, 2018

Rings coming soon...

Rings by White Pixels

Transport Puzzles

Slide the rings to the matching positions.
It looks easy. It gets hard.

It began with several classic railroad puzzles. Then morphed to glass beads following paths sketched on card stock. Then morphed again. You’ll see it soon.

32 puzzles. Ages 7 to adult. 
Available Monday, June 4th.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Inch Maker 1.0


With Inch Maker you can make your own Inch Worm strategy puzzles. Learn the ropes. The position the walls, arrows, and homes. Add acorns, cherries, leaves, snails, ladybugs, and dragonflies. Solve you own puzzles or hand them to a friend.


Download Inch Maker


Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Pegs YouTube Videos

Learn to Solve Peg Solitaire

You can learn to solve the classic puzzle Peg Solitaire. The app Pegs by White Pixels makes it easy. Here’s a quick introduction. Enjoy the game!




Peg Solitaire Solution

Spoiler alert! Here’s an easy to remember solution to Peg Solitaire. The video was made using the iPhone app Pegs by White Pixels. Enjoy the game!



Thursday, August 10, 2017

Pegs FREE


Pegs is FREE now through Tuesday. Get yours, and spread the word!

Last weekend we gave away 600+ free copies of Inch Worm, to folks in 26 countries around the world. It's great to see so many new users. 


Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Inch Worm in the Czech Republic



I've been puzzled by several Inch Worm sales in the Czech Republic. Then I discovered this site: http://deti.mensa.cz/index.php

Friday, June 30, 2017

Pegs en Español



The iTunes App Store description of Pegs is now available in Spanish. This makes lots of sense, since there are no words in Pegs. I'd love to help everyone discover it!

Pegs by White Pixels

¿Eres capaz de resolver el clásico puzzle Solitario? Pegs comienza fácil. Las formas y los colores son importantes. Podrás obtener algunas pistas y un poco de entrenamiento. ¡Tú puedes!

30 puzzles. 
Edad de 7 años en adelante.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Pegs Released!


Pegs by White Pixels is now available in the App Store for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.


Many thanks to the generous testing crew. Their time helped make it happen. User Testers: Karen, Eric, Kenny, Scott, Sean, Aaron, Amy, Sally, Kathy, Dennis, Joey, and Patti. Beta Testers: Zoe, Dean, Kristen, Zach, Brian (x2), Kenny, Erin, Jeff, Wes, Sienna, Leif, Juliet, and Sonja.

Enjoy the new game!
Rick


Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Inch Worm 3.0


As you can see, Inch has grown a bit older and a lot cuter. You can now solve all 72 puzzles in any order. I’ve also fixed a couple of gnarly bugs.

I hope that you and your kids enjoy the update. As always, I’d appreciate ratings and two-sentence reviews for the update in the app store.


Monday, March 20, 2017

Inch Worm Review

Geeks With Juniors has posted a great review of Inch Worm.
See it here.





Monday, March 13, 2017

Help Test Pegs

Pegs by White Pixels

Now is your chance to help test Pegs by White Pixels, the latest in my series of games for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. It’s a simple puzzle game for ALL AGES.

It’s all about critical thinking. Problem solving. Subgoals. Have at it. Make some mistakes. Go back. Try again. It’s all good.

User Testing:  I’ll be running user tests this week and next, in person, in Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley. You can influence the game’s design before it’s too late. Space is limited, so sign up ASAP.

Beta Testing:  I’m aiming for beta testing in April. Beta is on your devices, so anywhere in the world. You can see the game early. There will be a limited number of testers. Sign up now. You’ll get an email from Apple when the beta is ready to roll.

Thanks for your help!    - Rick



Thursday, February 2, 2017

Pegs

Here’s an early prototype of our next project:

Pegs by White Pixels.


You can do it! Solve Peg Solitaire.

Pegs will help. It starts out easy, then gets harder, with a twist. Early levels will help you discover the secrets. Think hard about the colors and shapes; they matter. You’ll see some hints and warnings along the way. Keep going. Have fun.

It’s all about critical thinking. Problem solving. Subgoals. 
Have at it. Make some mistakes. Go back. Try again. 
It’s all good.

Ages 6 to adult.
Coming summer 2017.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Make Problem Solving Fun


Inch Worm by White Pixels is an addictive collection of maze puzzles for ages 6 to adult. Students lead Inch home, interacting along the way with cherries (eat them), acorns (push them out of the way), leaves (make bridges), snails (push them home), ladybugs (push and pull them), and dragonflies (herd them home). 


Success requires skills in planning, problem solving, logic and spacial relationships. Some students will plan Inch’s entire route. Others will look for the next step that does no harm. Appropriate subgoals help kids solve the advanced puzzles. Their solutions reveal differing thought processes. Everyone will make some mistakes, and learn from them! It’s all good.




App Name:  Inch Worm by White Pixels


Platforms:  iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, $0.99, no ads, no in-app purchases





Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Inch Worm 2.0




Thanks to some fast work by Apple’s review team, Inch Worm 2.0 is now available in the App Store. It’s a free upgrade. So you can immediately start using the leaves to make bridges and dealing with those annoying dragonflies. There are 48 new puzzles. Go for it.

Thanks to everyone who helped with testing this time around. Star ratings and reviews for the new version are needed and appreciated.



Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Inch Worm Released!


This email arrived September 6th at 12:01 AM:


By morning Inch Worm was available in the App Store:


I'm pleased to have gotten this far, with a lot of help from friends. It's a first step. I'm trying to spread the word. Then it's on to a couple additional series of Inch Word puzzles, and another app.


Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Who knew?

Who knew what it would take to get a simple game for kids released in the App Store? Engineering - my speciality - was just a small fraction of the work. But we’re getting close…



Inch Worm is scheduled for release on September 6th. Whew!


Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Inch Worm Beta Testing



Beta testing is underway. Let me know if you'd like to help. 

Rick Meyers
rick@whitepixels.com


Friday, July 1, 2016

Inch Worm Testing



Big Picture

“I love this game.”  -  Jack
“What I like about it: it’s tricky a little.”  -  Hazel
“OK good. No. Not good.”  -  Aaron
“Oh, man.”  -  Brian

Getting Stuck

“I won the first one.”  -  Devan
“Great. Now I’m stuck.”  -  Titus (with a smile)
“Just to tell you, there’s a big trap.”  - Oliver
“Oh, I trapped myself.”  -  Joey (with a smile)
“I have an idea.”  - Sophia

Cherries

“I love cherries.”  -  Sophia
“I need a snack first.”  -  Violet (before eating a cherry)
“Grab that cherry at the beginning.”  -  Aidan 

Acorns and Snails

“The acorns are the hardest.”  -  Leif
“I forgot I can’t go to the edge.”  - Zachary
“Snails these days never listen!”  -  Simone

Strategy

“I know the secret.”  -  Emmy
“I just have to plan things out.”  -  Elsie
“There are actually two ways to get through.”  -  Charlie
“I’m not going to tell you the answer. It’s pretty obvious.”  -  David
“Finally. Took me long enough.”  -  Sean (big smile)

Bottom Line

“This game is actually quite fun.”  -  Titus
“Addicting.”  -  Michelle, Patti


Many thanks to everyone who tested Inch Worm. Each of you helped make Inch Worm a better game. Watching you play forced me to fix things.  ;-)


Testers:  David, Charlie, Ryan, Isabel, Violet, Jack, Brian, JD, Jude, Beth, Aaron, Josiah, Micah, Aidan, Devon, Jenn, Leif, Juliet, Birger, Zachary, Sophia, Simone, Hazel, Jenny, Oliver, Sara, Emmy, Elsie, Erin, Erik, Titus, Jeremiah, Joey, Patti, Matthew, Sean, Sally (wants to swipe), Kathy, Dennis, Erin, Michelle, Wes (the voice of Inch), Jeff (color consultant), and Karen (solved all the puzzles, multiple times).

Friday, June 17, 2016

Playing and Learning






"Play is a big part of how kids learn."
  
           zoopz.com

"For kids, especially kids under the age of 12, playing is learning and learning is playing.… So when we think about playing and we think about learning, the distinction between the two is very blurry and I think that as an organization, as an industry, we need to be a little bit more aware of that…
  
           Debra Levin Gelman
           http://uxpod.com/design-for-kids-an-interview-with-debra-levin-gelman/
           http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/design-for-kids/

"Better games. Smarter kids."
  
           whitepixels.com

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Favorite Kids' Books

In designing educational games for kids, some of my inspiration comes from children’s books. Here’s four of my all-time favorites:

Doggies
by Sandra Boynton
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
by Eric Carle
Mouse Paint
by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Make Way For Ducklings
by Robert McCloskey


I’ll never match this level of quality or appeal, but it’s nice to at least know where I’m aiming.

What are your favorites?

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Aplia Values

       

It's been a couple of years since I retired from Aplia. Before I forget, here's some of the values that helped make Aplia a great place to work.




Hire people that are smart and nice.
    They can learn everything else.

Get to know your users.
    Figure out what would make life better for them.

Design the best product for students and instructors.
    Everything else (sales, profits, ..) will follow.

Keep the design simple.
    White pixels are free!

Build a little. Test it with users.
    Then build some more. Then test it again.

Measure it. Fix it.
    Then measure again to see if you fixed it.

Give bugs top priority.
    Don’t build more if you have bugs.

Avoid add options for this and that.
    Add an option, go to jail.



Monday, April 29, 2013

Developmental Math



Here's an update to an earlier course profile.


Developmental Math Courses
 • Arithmetic, geometry, pre-algebra, algebra
Mostly 2 year schools
Many small sections
Students test into the course
Usually non-credit
 • Usually one term
 • 50% drop rate

Instructors
A few lead instructors - full time
Many adjuncts - freeway flyers

Students
Generally struggling in school
Many non-traditional students
Resent having to take the class
Lack basic math skills
Fear math

Key Challenges
 • Course: Ferocious drop rate
Instructors: Time, especially for individual attention
Students: Math skills, motivation, fear, time

Quantitative Literacy


Here's a brief profile of one of my favorite math courses.


Quantitative Literacy Courses
• "Math for real life."
• "The last math course you'll ever take."
• Personal finance, understanding statistics, charts, graphs, ...
• Understanding the news, reading the newspaper, ...
• Primarily 4 year schools
• Viewed as innovative
• Satisfies minimum math requirement

Instructors
• Ph.D. Math professors
• Chose to teach this course

Students
• Often weak math background
• Happy this course if offered, chose to take it

Key Challenges
• Instructors: Time, especially for individual attention
     Selling the course to the administration
• Students: Math skills, fear of math

Math for K-8 Teachers



Math for K-8 Teachers Courses
• Full year course
• Huge books, tons of material
• Taught in Education department
• 4 year schools
• Simple arithmetic through geometry, algebra
• Manipulatives
• Conceptual
• Required for education majors

Instructors
• Ph.D. education (or math) professors
• Tend to like the course

Students
• Future K-8 teachers
• Sophomores, juniors, seniors
• Math skills vary considerably

Key Challenges
• Tons of material
• Students must recognize multiple approaches
• Instructors: Understanding it all, time
• Students: Breadth of material, concepts


Saturday, February 6, 2010

GigaOM Infographic


A beautiful infographic prepared by GigaOM outlines the size of the iPhone App economy. Go check it out. We'll wait.


iPhone Apps

$250 million revenue in December 2009
$175 million (70%) goes to developers
$75 million (30%) goes to Apple


iPhone Sales

Apple sold 8.7 million iPhones in Q4 2009 (not counting Touch)
Guessing $150 / phone, that's $1.3 billion, plus carrier subsidies


iPhone Contracts

Users spend an average of $4.37 per month on apps
Users spend (my guess) $80 per month on connectivity


Interesting.

App Development is Big.
iPhone sales are Bigger.
Data plans are Biggest.