Aritmetris

How to play

Think fast and clear the board

Aritmetris is a falling-block math puzzle: each piece drops as number + operator + number. Watch the current target and connect numbers and operators to make the right calculation. It is a free browser mental math game with no sign-up and quick sessions.

Can you clear the board and move up a grade? - Every time you hit a target, a new one appears - You might already have calculations waiting that match the next target when the new piece lands - Match vertically, horizontally or diagonally; build combos and long chains of calculations Do your homework and you might move up a grade

Modes

Four ways to play with numbers

1 vs 1 and 1 vs CPU are available only on tablets and PCs.

Classic

The standard route Start with simple additions, numbers from 0 to 2 and targets up to 4. Then come more operations, more numbers and a bit more bite. Let's see if you can make it all the way to university. Passing is easy. Top marks are another story.

Sprint

Gifted and talented For anyone who thinks primary school is too easy and wants to skip ahead at full speed. Bigger numbers show up sooner, and the operations start getting trickier as early as level two. Once you've got Classic under control, this is the next stop. Thick glasses not required

1 vs 1

Challenge your "smart" friend Stay home like in the old days and play a local multiplayer math game: challenge your friends or your partner and show who can calculate better without using their fingers. Tablet and PC only

Screenshot of an Aritmetris versus match

1 vs CPU

Imagine challenging your teacher Three game modes: the Cool Teacher, the Day-to-Day Routine (the normal mode we've always had), or Surprise Exam difficulty. You decide. Tablet and PC only

What's inside

Built for quick sessions and easy comebacks

5 languages

All four official languages of Spain, plus English.

Installable

Play in your browser or install it for quicker access.

Offline

Install it and you can keep playing without a connection. Handy for signal-free waiting rooms.

Flexible controls

Play with keyboard, mouse, touch on your phone or even a gamepad.

Achievements and records

Achievements and plenty of stats, so you can keep trying to beat yourself.

No sign-up

No daily chores, no notifications and no accounts. Just you and the game on your own device. Old school.

12 levels

From primary school to university, ramping up all the way. If you make it that far, the speed keeps climbing until you finally crack.

Story

From 2010 to today

A weekend prototype, 16 years in a drawer and a month and a half to finish it.

Remember Flash? The idea came up 16 years ago as a way to reuse a game engine I had built for my final degree project. I pictured it as an educational game for my nephew, who was 6 at the time. I started working on it, then it ended up forgotten in a drawer, still rough around the edges. Many years later, I brought it back. From Flash to HTML5

For families and teachers

Resources for practising maths through play without losing the teaching focus

Two short reads on educational math games, fluency and mental math, with links to credible pedagogy and evidence reviews.

Educational math games

What to check before recommending a game A guide to the evidence, how to separate a useful resource from a merely shiny one, and why number-puzzle practice can fit well as a complement. A guide for families and teachers looking for educational math games, number puzzles and playful ways to practise.

Read the article

Practice mental math through play

Fluency with meaning, not speed for its own sake A read for families and classrooms on using short playful sessions to reinforce accuracy, flexibility, and understanding without turning practice into a test. A guide to practising mental math through play while building accuracy, flexibility and fluency without turning it into a test.

Read the article

Post-mortem

How it was made

From Flash to HTML5, making the most of modern tools In the post-mortem I go through the development process: digging the game back up, the attempts that went sideways, and how I found the right workflow to make use of a busy dad's late-night pockets of time and finish my first game of my own. More details in the full post-mortem

Read the post-mortem

Play

The game starts in your browser

No sign-up, no required install, and short sessions to warm up your brain.

Play in the browser itch.io

Also on NES

Math that goes down easy

Play it in your favorite NES emulator. I made this demake because I wanted to know what Aritmetris would have been like if I had invented it in 1988.

NTSC · Game in English

Download the NES ROM