Square Off

A timed math game with a massively multiplayer high score table on Prodigy, this once-daily online game invited players to string together combinations of numbers and arithmetic operations laid out for them in a grid with intent to meet as their sum a "target number" indicated on the screen. The faster the combinations (or "sequence"s) could be made (and the faster in quick succession), the higher the points value assigned and the sooner the player could transition to a new "phase" with a different and more complicated grid layout.

This was all undertaken in a cyberspace-styled presentation with a back-story involving genetically engineered D.O.G. agents and SLAM5 (Synthetic Learning Acceleration Machine, version 5), an AI developed by Kerry Nelson. Their precise relationship to the game can only be gleaned tangentially, since the program became unplayable following the shutdown of Prodigy Classic on January 25th, 1999.