Free classroom games for teachers
Logic puzzles, maths games, strategy board games and word games that run in any browser, including school Chromebooks. Students don’t need an account, and there’s nothing to install. Each game below comes with what it practises and a quick way to use it in class.
Who this page is for: teachers of students aged 13 and over (middle school, secondary and high school, after-school clubs, adult and ESL classes). BoardGameSite is a general-audience site, so for younger children please use it teacher-led, on a shared screen.
What students need
- A browser. Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox on a Chromebook, laptop, tablet or phone.
- No accounts. Every game can be played without signing up or giving any personal information.
- No ads. We don’t show advertising.
- A link. Send students straight to a game, for example
boardgamesite.com/play/tower-of-hanoi. Each game remembers progress in the student’s own browser.
Logic and problem solving
| Game | What it practises | A 10-minute activity |
|---|---|---|
| Tower of Hanoi | Recursion, patterns, powers of two | Solve 3, 4 and 5 discs, record the fewest moves, and predict the next: 7, 15, 31… Why 2ⁿ − 1. |
| Light Switch (Lights Out) | Systematic strategies, parity | Pairs race the 3×3 board, then explain their method. Introduce the chase-the-lights method for 5×5. |
| Sudoku | Deduction, elimination | Solve an easy grid aloud as a class, naming each step. Try the step-by-step Sudoku path. |
| Sliding Tiles | Planning ahead, breaking a problem into parts | Solve the 3×3 row by row. Discuss why finished rows never need to move again. |
| Picture Logic (nonograms) | Logical reasoning from clues | A starter or plenary: one small puzzle, first finished explains their first three moves. |
| Mines (Minesweeper) | Inference, certainty versus guessing | Screenshot a position and ask: which squares are definitely safe, and how do you know? |
| Peg Solitaire | Planning, working backwards | Who can finish with the fewest pegs? Then compare with the full solution. |
Maths and probability
| Game | What it practises | A 10-minute activity |
|---|---|---|
| Pig | Probability, risk and expected value | Each student picks a “hold at” number (10, 20, 30). Play, pool results and discuss which works best. |
| Shut the Box | Number bonds, addition, combinations | List every way to make the dice total before choosing. Which tiles are hardest to close? |
| Hot Dice (Farkle) | Probability, mental arithmetic | Estimate the chance of rolling at least one 1 or 5 with 6 dice, then with 1 die. |
| Liar’s Dice | Expected counts, reasoning under uncertainty | If 20 dice are in play, how many 3s should you expect? Use it to judge whether a bid is likely. |
| Slide & Merge (2048) | Powers of two, strategy | Track the biggest tile reached. How many 2-tiles make a 2048? |
| Mancala | Counting, planning several moves ahead | Before sowing, predict exactly where the last seed lands, then check. |
Step-by-step learning paths
25 games have a free learning path: a short course of interactive lessons on a real board, from the rules to real strategy. Every path follows the same three stages:
- Hands-on lessons. Each lesson is a few minutes long. Students read one idea, then try it on the board: tap the right square, make the move, or answer a question. Wrong answers get a hint, not a penalty.
- A rules check. A short quiz on the rules. Passing it unlocks the next stage, so students can’t skip ahead without the basics.
- Strategy lessons. The ideas strong players use, one at a time, each with positions to practise on. Lessons unlock in order.
Progress is saved in the student’s browser, or on any device if they create an account. Chess, Checkers, Russian Checkers and Mancala finish with a practice ladder of three rated computer opponents.
| Type | Paths (number of lessons) |
|---|---|
| Strategy board games | Chess (23), Checkers (12), Russian Checkers (14), Go (11), Reversi (8), Four in a Row (8), Five in a Row (10), Hex (9), Nine Men’s Morris (9), Dots and Boxes (9), Mancala (8), Backgammon (9) |
| Card games | Spades (9), Hearts (10), Gin Rummy (9), Solitaire (8), FreeCell (8), Spider Solitaire (4) |
| Dice games | Liar’s Dice (4), Hot Dice (4), Dice Poker (4) |
| Puzzles | Sudoku (10), Mines (5), Picture Logic (4), Cryptogram (4) |
Using paths in class:
- One lesson as a starter. Every lesson has its own link, so you can put a single lesson on the board, work through it together, and ask the class to predict each answer before you tap.
- A path for a club or early finishers. Share the path link. Students work at their own pace and pick up where they left off next time.
- The rules check as an exit ticket. Students who pass have the rules secure; those who don’t can repeat the lessons it covers.
- Printable text. Below each lesson, “Read this lesson as text” opens the whole lesson in words, for printing, reading aloud or screen readers.
Strategy board games
Every game here has a free, step-by-step learning path (see above). They work well for chess clubs, wet-lunch clubs and students who finish early.
| Game | What it practises | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Chess | Calculation, pattern recognition, patience | Chess path |
| Checkers | Forward planning, forced moves | Checkers path |
| Go | Territory, long-term thinking | Go path |
| Reversi | Positional thinking, corners and edges | Reversi path |
| Four in a Row | Threats and blocking, a quick first strategy game | Four in a Row path |
| Dots and Boxes | Counting chains, thinking ahead | Dots and Boxes path |
| Russian Checkers | Long combinations, calculating captures | Russian Checkers path |
| Five in a Row | Double threats, attack and defence | Five in a Row path |
| Hex | Connection, blocking from a distance | Hex path |
| Nine Men’s Morris | Building mills, mobility | Nine Men’s Morris path |
| Backgammon | Probability, risk and safety | Backgammon path |
Student vs student: in Chess, Checkers, Four in a Row, Reversi, Go and several others, one student taps “Create a game link” and sends it to a partner on another device. No accounts needed. See all 2 player games.
Word games and vocabulary
| Game | What it practises | A 10-minute activity |
|---|---|---|
| Hangman | Spelling, topic vocabulary | Type a topic word of up to 14 letters (“ecosystem”) and share it as a link: the class guesses your word. Students can send one back. |
| Word Ladder | Spelling, vocabulary, flexible thinking | Race to finish the day’s ladder in the fewest steps, then set a paper challenge: COLD to WARM, one letter at a time. |
| Cryptogram | Letter frequency, codes, reading for meaning | Link to a history or computing lesson on substitution ciphers. |
| Word Search | Topic words, focus | A calm starter; ask students to use three of the found words in a sentence. |
| Letter Hive | Word building, morphology | Teams find as many words as they can from seven letters in five minutes. |
| Unscramble | Spelling patterns, anagrams | Quick-fire warm-up on the board. |
Privacy, in plain words
- Students can play every game without an account and without entering any personal information.
- We use Google Analytics only if the visitor accepts cookies. If they decline, it isn’t loaded.
- Scores and progress are saved in the student’s own browser unless they choose to create an account.
- There’s no advertising, and we don’t sell information.
The full details are in our privacy policy. Questions from schools are welcome: contact us.
Questions from teachers
Is BoardGameSite free for schools?
Yes. Every game and lesson is free, with no limits and no school licence.
Do the games work on Chromebooks and iPads?
Yes. Everything runs in the browser, with touch and mouse controls. Nothing needs installing.
Can students play each other?
Yes: on one shared device by choosing “2 players”, or on two devices by sharing a game link.
What age are the games suitable for?
The games themselves suit most ages, but the site is designed for a general audience aged 13 and over. With younger classes, run the games from the teacher’s screen.
How do the learning paths work?
Each path has short hands-on lessons, then a rules check that unlocks the strategy lessons. Lessons unlock in order, and progress is saved in the student’s browser. Each lesson has its own link, so you can set just one.
Can I link to a game from Google Classroom or our school website?
Yes, please do. Each game has its own simple link, such as boardgamesite.com/play/sudoku.