Free, safe browser games for the classroom

A browser game is ready for the classroom when it needs no download and no sign-up, has no chat, runs on school Chromebooks and tablets, plays in short, quiet rounds, and has nothing to buy. Tabby Arcade is built around those rules. This guide covers how to check any game against them, which of our games fit which part of the day, and how to run them on shared devices.

What to check before class

A few minutes of checking before a lesson saves a lot of trouble during it. These are the five things worth looking at, for any game on any site.

1. Nothing to install. The game should open in a normal browser tab. If it asks to install an app, an extension or a plug-in, it isn't a good fit for managed school devices.
2. No accounts and no chat. Students shouldn't have to type a name, an email address or a password to play. A game with no chat, no friend lists and no public profiles means there's no way for a stranger to reach a student through it.
3. It runs on the devices you have. Try it on the actual Chromebook or tablet your class uses, not only on your own computer. Check that the buttons are big enough to tap and that the game fits the screen without zooming.
4. Short rounds. A round that takes a minute or two fits a warm-up, a transition or an early-finisher slot, and it ends cleanly when you call time. A game that takes twenty minutes to reach its first save point is hard to stop.
5. Nothing to buy and nothing pushy. Look for in-game purchases, pop-ups and anything that asks students to click away. A game that's free with nothing to unlock keeps the focus on playing.

Picks by slot

All of these are free in the browser and work on phones, tablets, computers and school Chromebooks. None of them has chat, a sign-up or anything to buy.

A five-minute warm-up: memory

Arcade Memory Match is a card-matching game. Students turn over two cards at a time to find pairs of arcade icons. Each icon has its own shape as well as its own color, so the game doesn't depend on telling colors apart. The first board has only 12 cards, so anyone can clear it, and each board after that is bigger, up to 30 cards. From the third board on, a couple of hidden cards slide and swap places after each pair, slowly enough to follow.

There's no timer and no way to lose. The score is the number of moves taken, which makes a gentle challenge: "Can you beat your number from yesterday?"

Logic and planning

Mirror Light Puzzle is a puzzle about light and color. Students tap mirrors to steer red, green and blue beams onto seedlings, and each seedling blooms only when it gets exactly the light it wants. Some want a single color and others want a mix, so the game quietly teaches that red and green light make yellow, and all three make white. Every color also has its own pattern (dots, dashes or waves), so students who find colors hard to tell apart can play too. There's a daily puzzle that's the same for everyone, which makes a good shared problem to talk through as a class.

Tidy Tiles Puzzle is a small, careful puzzle. Each tray has tiles and holes, and the goal is to clear every tile in a limited number of moves: arrows push a whole line of tiles, crosses clear, and stars sink into a new hole. It rewards thinking before tapping. It also plays fully with a keyboard (the arrow keys choose a tile and Space taps it), which helps on laptops and Chromebooks without touch screens.

A calm sorting break

Satisfying Token Sort is a sorting game with a soft, steady rhythm. Students drag arcade tokens into the machines that want them. Three tokens fill a machine, it pays out with a shower of coins, and the next machine slides in. Tokens can also wait in holding cups and roll into their machine on their own when it arrives. Every token has its own shape as well as its own color. The first boards, and every fifth board after them, can't be lost, and a stuck board can be undone or restarted at once.

Pairs on one device

Tugboat Battle 2 Player is for two students sharing one tablet, Chromebook or computer. Each player steers a boat with a thumb on their own half of the screen (or with their own set of keys on a keyboard), and tries to bump the other boat off a sandbar that shrinks as the tide rises. Rounds last 30 seconds at most, and the first to win 3 rounds takes the match. It's lively rather than quiet, so it suits indoor recess or a reward slot more than a calm transition. A student who's on their own can play against the computer instead.

Shared devices

Classroom devices get passed around, so a little setup goes a long way.

• Bookmark the games you use. Add each game page to the class bookmarks, or put the links on your class page, so students go straight to the right game without searching.
• Progress stays in that browser. Most of these games save progress in the browser on the device being played, with no account. A student who moves to a different Chromebook starts fresh there, and clearing the browser's data clears the saves. That's usually fine for short rounds, and it means there's no student data to manage. Tugboat Battle 2 Player saves nothing at all: every match starts fresh.
• Turn the sound down. The games make short sound effects and have no music. For a quiet room, turn the device volume down or mute the browser tab before handing it over.

Keeping it calm and fair

Some games suit a quiet room better than others. Here's how ours compare.

• No timer and no way to lose: Arcade Memory Match and Mirror Light Puzzle. Students can take as long as they like, and nobody is "out."
• No timer, with a gentle limit: Tidy Tiles Puzzle gives a set number of moves, but a board that can't be finished just explains why and resets itself, and there are no lives. Satisfying Token Sort has no timer, and its stuck boards can be undone or restarted.
• A clock and a winner: Tugboat Battle 2 Player has 30-second rounds and a winner for every match, which is exciting but loud. Use it when a bit of noise is welcome.

For a fair turn-taking rule in pairs, try "winner hands over the device," so the same student doesn't hold it for every match.

FAQ

Do students need accounts to play?

No. None of the games asks for a name, an email address or a password. There's no sign-up and no chat.

Will these games work on our school Chromebooks?

Yes. They run in the browser on phones, tablets, computers and school Chromebooks, with nothing to install.

Is progress saved between lessons?

Most of the games save progress in the browser on the device being played, so a student who comes back to the same Chromebook picks up where they left off. Tugboat Battle 2 Player keeps no save, and every match starts fresh.