Educational games are a dime a dozen these days, ever since the success of Brain Age for the DS. Now we at 4cr are all about teaching the younguns all about math, science, history, and the like. But we’re also all about fun, which frankly most of these educational games severely lack. We’ve all suffered through our shares of garbage in order to bring you the best of the best. So does Brain Thaw rise to the heights of Brain Age? Or does it crash and burn like so many Brain Boosts before it? Read on to find out.

Brain Thaw is an iPod touch/iPhone game from Groovy Squared, a new studio based in San Francisco, CA. In their own words, they have “a passion for developing highly polished, user-friendly software.” I have to say, if they keep releasing products like Brain Thaw, they will be well on their way to making that dream a reality.

Brain Thaw is a mathematics game, crossed with a puzzler. You take control of a little penguin, picking off answers to a given problem, such as finding all the multiples of 3, or finding the factors of 36, all the while avoiding being eaten by a growing number of hungry yetis. It starts off relatively simple, but once more yetis start to show up and the problems get harder, it gets pretty hectic.

Gameplay couldn’t be simpler. The play field is laid out in a grid of numbers, with a given problem listed at the top of the screen. All you do is tap once on a square to make your penguin go there, or tap twice to pick the number in a square. Pick all the numbers that match your given problem to move on to the next level, and try to earn a new high score. You get points by picking correct answers, and you can earn a bonus by picking all the correct answers quickly. There are also different score multipliers that may be on a level. Once you pick up a multiplier, every correct number you pick will give you double or triple points for a limited time, which adds a bit of strategy to the game. Find a bunch of answers in your head, grab the multiplier, and then try to get them all in a row before your multiplier runs out, all the while avoiding being eaten by the various yetis around the level. Luckily there are random safe zones that appear. If a square turns orange, the yetis won’t be able to get to you, giving you a second or two to survey the level for correct answers. But don’t stand still too long, as the safe zone does disappear after a short while.

Brain Thaw is not only a fantastic way to exercise your mathematics skills, but it’s also great fun. With the worldwide high-score table to compete against, it is hard to put down. Definitely recommended to anyone out there who loves math, or those that need a little practice with their mathematics skills. Check it out on iTunes, or check out the official website here.