Array City

Build Your City and Master Multiplication with Array City!

Welcome, city planner! “Array City” is a free online maths game that provides a powerful visual way for children to understand multiplication. If you’re looking for a fun and interactive game to help your child see what multiplication “looks like,” you’re in the right place to start building!

This game turns multiplication into a creative city-building project. Children roll two dice to get the dimensions for their next building (e.g., 3 x 4), which then appears on the grid as an array. Their mission is to calculate the area of the new building. With two different modes, it’s the perfect game for a wide range of abilities.

How to Play

1. Choose Your Mode: Select Simple Mode to practice basic multiplication, or Expert Mode for a tricky challenge involving overlapping shapes!
2. Roll & Build: Click the “Roll & Build” button. Two dice will roll, and a new building will appear on your city grid based on the numbers.
3. Calculate the Area: A question will appear asking you for the area of the new building. In Simple Mode, this is a straightforward multiplication sum (e.g., 3 x 4 = 12). In Expert Mode, you must carefully count only the new squares added to the city, ignoring any that overlap with existing buildings!
4. Check Your Answer: Type your answer into the box and click “Check.”
5. Grow Your City: If you’re correct, the building becomes a permanent part of your city, and your total city area grows!

Learning Objectives & Curriculum Links

Array City is a fantastic educational tool that directly supports key learning objectives within the UK’s Key Stage 1 (KS1) and Key Stage 2 (KS2) maths curriculum.

• Target Age Group: The dual modes make this game highly versatile.
  • Simple Mode is perfect for children in Year 2 and Year 3 (ages 6-8) who are being introduced to multiplication.
  • Expert Mode is a great challenge for children in Year 4 and Year 5 (ages 8-10) who need to develop their problem-solving and visual estimation skills.
• Key Maths Focus:
  • Visualising Multiplication: The core of the game supports the curriculum aim for children to understand multiplication as repeated addition and arrays. They can physically see that 3 x 4 is three rows of four squares.
  • Calculating Area: The game provides a direct, visual link between multiplication and the concept of area (length x width), a key topic in KS2 geometry.
  • Problem Solving (Expert Mode): The expert mode requires children to look carefully, count units, and subtract overlapping parts, which builds advanced problem-solving and spatial reasoning skills.

Tips for Teachers and Parents

This interactive multiplication game is an excellent resource for making abstract concepts concrete.

• For Teachers: Use Array City on your interactive whiteboard to introduce the concept of arrays. You can roll the dice and have the children draw the resulting array on their own whiteboards. The “Expert Mode” is a brilliant discussion starter for lessons on area and perimeter, prompting students to explain how they calculated the new area.
• For Parents: This game is a creative and fun alternative to practicing times tables with flashcards. It helps your child understand why 3 x 4 = 12. You can support their learning by counting the squares in the array with them and talking about how the buildings get bigger or smaller depending on the dice roll.

Enjoy building your city! Make sure to explore our other free maths games for primary-aged children.