Alik: Wesoła matematyka (2001)

Russian box cover

## The Game

Alik: Wesoła matematyka (Russian: Алик. Занимательная математика) is the 3rd game in the series of Alik games for PC. The game is targeted at preschool and primary school children. The game teaches counting from 0 to 100, the four basic arithmetic operations and comparing numbers. It offers 3 difficulty levels.

*All screenshots on this page were taken in a game profile with hard difficulty.*

### Gameplay

First the player needs to create a game profile. They select a piggybank, type in their name and select one of the three difficulty levels, which can’t be changed afterwards. Difficulty is chosen by clicking on one of the coins with the numbers 10, 20 and 100, which represent how far numbers will go during gameplay. The high difficulty is the only one to include multiplication and division. To delete an existing profile the player needs to place the top hat on the piggybank and click on it again.

By clicking on the rocking horse with an arrow the player switches between the player select menu and the minigame menu. There are a total of 9 minigames. As the player successfully completes minigames, they fill their piggybank with coins. The money can be spent on toys in the shop, which is entered via the door in the player select screen. The purchased toys will move to the player's house, they can get there by clicking on the scooter. After all the toys have been bought, the game doesn't end.

Toy Shop, Part 1 (Full)Toy Shop, Part 2 (Full)Toy Shop, Part 1 (Empty)Toy Shop, Part 2 (Empty)Cutscene of Alik driving to the player's housePlayer's Home, Part 1 (Empty)Player's Home, Part 2 (Empty)Player's Home, Part 1 (Full)Player's Home, Part 2 (Full)
#### Minigames

*The minigames are not named, the following names are given only for convenience.*

##### The Forest Path

The minigame is entered by clicking on the snake.

Alik resides in a little hut in the forest. To get there, the player must follow the path and solve many equations. An equation’s answer becomes the first number of the next equation. The path is split into circles. Answering correctly moves the player one circle forward, answering wrong – one circle backward.

##### The Sleeping Dragon

The minigame is entered by clicking on the kite.

The dragon with 10 heads is asleep. The player rings the bell, waking up from 1 to 10 heads. They must count the heads and click on the right number. This is the only minigame not affected by difficulty levels.

##### Pairs

The minigame is entered by clicking on the card.

The player must match mathematical expressions with the numbers they equal to. The cards are visible from the beginning and are hidden after being matched.

##### The Snail Race

The minigame is entered by clicking on the racecar.

Two snails race up the hill, the faster one gets to eat the strawberry at the top. First of all, the player chooses a snail by clicking on the hand button, then clicks on their snail so that both snails get set. Clicking on the flag starts the race. Equations with one missing number are displayed below. The player must complete them by clicking on the correct number. Each complete equation makes the player’s snail move forward. The opponent snail advances periodically.

##### Soap Bubbles

The minigame is entered by clicking on the bear with a bottle of soap bubbles.

Alik blows out a trail of soap bubbles, which slowly float up. The bubbles have numbers and mathematical expressions on them. The player must pop all the bubbles in ascending order. The removed numbers appear on the caterpillar below, where the expressions are replaced with their results. If the player makes a mistake, the bubble they’ve clicked on will slightly move up instead of popping. A bubble reaching the top of the screen means failure.

##### The Book of Tests

The minigame is entered by clicking on the plane.

The player is given multiple types of equations and inequalities to choose from. If they play in hard mode, the choice between addition + subtraction and division + multiplication is given earlier.  After they choose the assignment, they must type in the missing numbers or select between greater-than, less-than or equals signs, then click on the pencil to check if everything is correct. If a mistake has been made, the player can still correct it after checking, but they win coins only if they get everything right at first try. Clicking on the top left page corner takes them back to the selection menu, clicking on the bottom right page corner starts a new test of the same type.

##### The Shooting Range

The minigame is entered by clicking on the pirate.

Alik shoots at one or two targets. The player must look at the target(s) and count the score. If the player confirms the wrong answer, they can still correct it, but won’t get a coin.

##### The Scales and Weights

The minigame is entered by clicking on the scale.

The weights have numbers and/or mathematical expressions written on them. The player must compare them, click on the question mark to change it to greater-than, less-than or equals sign, then press the button on the scales to confirm.

##### Tug of War

The minigame is entered by clicking on the bulldog.

Alik competes against another dog in a Tug of War game, where the middle of the rope has a salami tied to it. The table displays an equation/inequality with one sign missing. The player must click on the correct sign in the bottom of the screen. Each complete equation/inequality makes Alik pull the rope. The opponent pulls the rope in a set period of time.

## Trivia

* The player needs 641 coins to buy all the toys.
* The table in Tug of War may have a white rectangle on it, this is a glitch.
* The kite representing the dragon minigame is a Russian pun. "Воздушный змей" means a kite, while "змей" means a snake or a dragon (usually depicted with 3 heads).