Mathgame developer Sokikon, for example, references U.S. Department of Education-funded research correlating its games to progress in test scores and motivation to learn math (up to 15% improvement in one Arizona classroom).
Richman, a self-proclaimed mediocre athlete who used his math skills to develop the now-famous game, was floundering with an 80-player All-Star set that drew minimal interest in the early 1960s.