Prodigy Math Game

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

app2018

58%

WISE Score

4.8

App Store

Pokémon-style math battles that get kids practicing arithmetic—but with relentless membership upsells that'll have them begging you for premium pets.

Prodigy Math Game

app

Everyone, 2018

58%

WISE Score

4.8

App Store

Pokémon-style math battles that get kids practicing arithmetic—but with relentless membership upsells that'll have them begging you for premium pets.

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Where to Find

App Store

Google Play

Screenwise Verdict

Prodigy is the educational game equivalent of a freemium mobile app—it works, kids use it, teachers assign it, but you'll feel a little icky about the whole experience.

The math practice is legitimate and adaptive, and plenty of kids who'd never voluntarily do flashcards will happily battle monsters for 30 minutes. Teachers love the data tracking. But the constant membership upsells are aggressive enough that advocacy groups have filed formal complaints, and the experience creates a clear have/have-not dynamic that feels especially gross in educational settings.

If your kid's teacher assigns it, you can probably skip the membership and just treat it as homework. If you're choosing it voluntarily, there are less manipulative math practice options out there (though admittedly less engaging for many kids). The game itself isn't harmful, but the business model is designed to make 8-year-olds feel bad about not having premium dragon pets, and that's worth a conversation.

Age Fit

Best for grades 1-8 (roughly ages 6-13) who need math fact practice and respond to game rewards. Younger kids may need help navigating menus; older middle schoolers often find it babyish and see through the manipulative monetization.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Prodigy wraps math practice in a fantasy RPG framework with pet collection and wizard battles. The tone is generally positive and cooperative, with no violent imagery beyond cartoon spell-casting. However, the free-to-play model creates a two-tier experience where paying members get cosmetic advantages, which can foster social comparison among young players.

Imaginative

The game borrows heavily from Pokémon's formula—collect creatures, battle opponents, level up—applied to math problems. While the fantasy world has some charm, it's largely derivative and serves as a wrapper for drill-and-practice math rather than fostering genuine creative expression or open-ended exploration. Kids aren't building or creating; they're solving equations to unlock the next battle.

Safe

Prodigy has faced significant criticism from advocacy groups for its aggressive monetization targeting children. The membership upsells are frequent and create FOMO (fear of missing out) through locked pets, items, and areas. While there's no chat with strangers and the math content itself is benign, the psychological manipulation through in-game purchases is a notable safety concern that crosses into exploitative territory for the target age group.

Enriching

As a math practice tool, Prodigy does get kids doing arithmetic and problem-solving, adapting difficulty to their level. Teachers can track progress and assign specific skills. However, the educational value is primarily rote practice rather than conceptual understanding or mathematical thinking. The game mechanics often feel like an interruption to the math rather than an enhancement, and kids quickly learn to game the system or rush through problems to get back to the 'fun' parts.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Actually gets reluctant math students to practice without realizing they're doing homework
Adaptive difficulty means kids work at their level without getting frustrated or bored
Teachers can assign specific skills and track progress, making it useful for classroom differentiation
No stranger chat and cartoon-only 'violence' keeps the content itself age-appropriate

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What to Watch For

Constant membership prompts create serious FOMO—expect requests for the $10/month subscription to unlock 'better' pets and areas
The Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood has filed FTC complaints about manipulative marketing to kids
Math practice is mostly drill-and-kill rather than conceptual learning; kids may rush through problems to get back to battling
Free players get a noticeably inferior experience, which can feel exclusionary in classroom settings

Conversation Starters

"What's your favorite pet in Prodigy? What math skills did you practice to catch it?"
"Do you feel like the membership kids have more fun? How does that make you feel?"
"Can you explain how you solved that division problem, or did you just guess to move on?"
"What do you think the game is trying to get you to do when it shows you locked items?"

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Prodigy Math Game – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise