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Surgeon Simulator dev's new game, Twelve a Dozen, is totally mathematical

Out now on iPad for £2.99

Surgeon Simulator developer Bossa Studios has released its latest game, a math-based puzzle-platformer called Twelve a Dozen, on iPad today.

Twelve a Dozen attempts to merge education and entertainment without making the dreaded 'edutainment.' Can it be done?

Twelve a Dozen puts players in the role of a lass called the Twelve, who represents the actual number 12 in a universe so tiny it exists entirely within the space of a calculator's broken pixel. Twelve lives with other Twelves in Dozenopolis, but a cataclysmic event tosses the whole village into ruin and so our heroine must embark on a quest to save them.

Naturally, this involves math. Throughout the game Twelve will pick up "Numbles," little critters with numbers on them that influence Twelve's numeric properties as you decide how to add, subtract, multiply and divide them. For example, becoming a number divisible by five allows Twelve to swim, while shifting to a negative number reverses her sense of gravity so she can walk on the ceiling.

Twelve a Dozen is the first commercial release published by educational software company Amplify. The publisher noted that its part of a suite of 30 educational games for Amplify.

"Every time we showed one of our games to people from various walks of life, we heard the same thing, 'How can I get these for my kid?'" said Amplify CEO Joel Klein on the publisher's recent blog post. "So we decided to see if people are as crazy about these games as we are. If the commercial launch of Twelve a Dozen is well received, we'd want to consider making some of our other games available to consumers as well."

Like Thomas Was Alone before it, Twelve a Dozen has a whimsical narration bringing this tale of a spec in a computer to life - this time by comedian and actress Lucy Montgomery. The game is currently 30 levels, but more stages will be added soon as a free update.

Twelve a Dozen costs £2.99 / $4.99 on the App Store.

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