The GameHelp people with math

We take a very different (and deeply human) Thought Full approach to math contests.

Our core principle: your worth is how much you help other people.

Play for freeAbout Thought Full →

A math game where your reputation is not about being first

  • Your reputation ≠ how many problems you solve
  • Your reputation ≠ how fast you answer
  • Your reputation = the brain others give you

Everyone can see how many brain you get and give. They add up to your reputation.

Your score, your rating, and your correct answers are private. Only you can see them.

So, how does this game work?

  1. Join a match

    Join a match in the lobby, or create one. Up to 8 players play, and other people can watch.

    The lobby of the game: the other players in the lobby with their brains, and matches to join over a globe with a dot for each player online.

  2. Solve

    Everyone gets the same problem from a real math contest. You work on it alone. As the time runs, hints come one at a time.

    A problem in a match on a phone, with the time that is left and the hints under the problem.

  3. Give and earn brain

    After the answer shows, players talk about the problem in chat. When a message helps you, give it a brain. Each brain you earn adds to your reputation.

    The match chat after a problem. One player says how they got a wrong answer, another player explains the mistake, and the first player says thanks. Two players give the explanation a brain, and its count goes from 0 to 2.

The power of this innovation comes from its simplicity

The beauty and power of math comes from carefully designing the right system of simple rules, which produce great meaning. It’s like poetry.

Our main rule is simple: your reputation comes from the brain that other players give you. Game theory does the rest. The best way to build a reputation is to explain your ideas well, so every player has a reason to teach.

Students teach students, around the world

Players teach each other in real time, all over the world. Students learn how to solve problems through the social life of an online game.

A drawing of the Earth. A brain goes from one chat message to another.

A kind and helpful community

Most contests care about scores. In our matches, we value kindness and help more than individual results.

A drawing of the Earth with hearts above it.

Made for children under 13

We designed The Game for children under 13. It shows no ads from other companies. We avoid addictive features and unhealthy behaviors. We use careful design to encourage positive social behavior.

We check every chat message before other players can see it. Chat does not allow links.

You can play as a guest. A guest can read every chat, but never sees a player’s username. To send a message or to give brain, sign in.

Social, with no need to make money

The Game is free from investor control. It does not need to make money to pay for its costs. It is our way to help make a more Thought Full world. We can do this because our main work, LIVE by Po-Shen Loh, is financially sustainable. Our parent social enterprise, Expii, Inc., operates LIVE. The costs and revenues of LIVE are much larger than those of The Game. Also, Purposeful Ventures gave a donation to support The Game.

If you want to help, we use each donation responsibly. You can give to our parent social enterprise through our tip jar. These gifts are not tax-deductible. For a larger tax-deductible donation, email donate@poshenloh.com for the steps to give to our 501(c)(3) non-profit fiscal sponsor.

Meet the team

A social mission unites our team. We come from math, video games, art, and computer science. Together, we make a new and human way to learn math.

  • Gabriel Hall

    Lead Game Dev

  • Po-Shen Loh

    Founder

Prior contributors

  • Xavier Lien

    Game Dev

  • Shannon Lin

    Design

  • Heysu Oh

    Design

  • Eric Xu

    Game Dev

  • Christy Zo

    Design