Indoor Recess Games
Rain, snow, or a wind chill nobody wants to stand in: indoor recess. Starship Arcade has 12 arcade games that are free for everyone, with no account, no sign-in and nothing to install, so a class can be playing in the time it takes to open a browser. They are learning games (times tables, fractions, clocks, spelling, geography, logic, memory), but they are built to feel like an arcade, not a worksheet. You need desktops or laptops with keyboards; they are not built for touch.
Open the Arcade DeckFour ways to run it
Computer lab or laptop cart
Each student picks any of the 12 free games below. There are no accounts or passwords to hand out, so a 20-minute recess is 20 minutes of play, not 10 minutes of logging in. Open starshiparcade.com, walk onto the Arcade Deck and press a cabinet, or bookmark the game links on this page.
One game on the projector
Put one game on the projector, give one student the keyboard and let the class call out the answers. Swap the typist every round or every miss. It works best with the games below, where the answer can be shouted, pointed at or argued about.
Pairs on one keyboard
Two students, one computer: one plays, one coaches, and they swap at the end of each round. Good when there are fewer computers than students.
Beat the class score
Write the best score of the day on the board. Anyone who beats it writes theirs underneath. Every game shows a score at the end of a round, so no one has to keep track by hand.
One-click starts
Word Warp: winter words
Two winter lists (grades 3-4 and 5-6), no holiday, so they work from December to February.
Playor this week's spelling listTime Pilot: quarter past and quarter to
Read the analog clock on the ship, to the quarter hour.
Playother clock stepsFraction Fleet: grade 3 fractions
Pictures, equivalent fractions and comparing, with halves to eighths.
Playother skillsBest on the projector
- Meteor Math: The class shouts the product, the student at the keyboard types it before the meteor lands. Swap typists every wave.
- Star Charts: The order names a country or capital; the room points and argues, one student clicks. Geography arguments are the good kind of loud.
- Code Breaker: Every guess gets LOCKED and LOOSE clues, so the class reasons out loud about what the code can still be. Take a vote before each guess.
- Memory Core: Everyone watches the pattern light up, then calls it back in order for the typist.
- Word Warp: The word flashes on the warp gate and vanishes. The class spells it aloud letter by letter while one student types.
- Grammar Blaster: One word in each sentence is wrong. Read the sentence aloud and let the class find the mistake before the blaster fires.
All 12 free games
- Math · grades 3-6Meteor MathTimes tables. Each meteor carries a multiplication fact; type the answer before it reaches your base.
- Math · grades 3-6Fraction FleetFractions. Shoot the ship carrying the fraction that matches the order.
- Math · grades 3-6Time PilotTelling time and elapsed time on analog clocks.
- Math · grades 3-6Money RunMaking exact amounts and change with Canadian coins and bills.
- Math · grades 3-6Geo Storm2D shapes, sides and rotation. Patch each hull breach with the matching plate, then turn it until it fits.
- Spelling · grades 3-6Word WarpSpelling. A word flashes on the warp gate, vanishes, and the student types it from memory. A teacher can load their own word list from a link.
- Grammar · grades 3-6Grammar BlasterSentence repair. One word in each sentence is wrong (tense, homophone, capital, plural); find it and blast it.
- Geography · grades 3-6Star ChartsWorld geography. Find the country, capital city, continent or landmark the order names on the map.
- Science · grades 3-8Atom SmashThe periodic table. Smash the element nucleus the panel names as it races around the collider ring.
- Science · grades 3-6Cell DiveCell biology. Steer a tiny submarine into the organelle that does the job named at the top.
- Logic · grades 3-6Code BreakerLogic and deduction. Crack a secret shape code from the lock's LOCKED and LOOSE clues.
- Memory · grades 3-6Memory CoreWorking memory. Watch the pattern light up, then play it back in the same order.
Want one on your class website for the next indoor day? Copy-paste embed code for Google Sites, Weebly, WordPress and Blogger.
What is Starship Arcade? · Winter math word problems · Times tables game · Turn your spelling list into a game
Questions teachers ask
- Are these games free?
- Yes. The 12 games on the Arcade Deck are free to play with no account and nothing to install. The ten rooms on the Promenade are for members; nothing on this page needs one.
- Do students need to sign in?
- No. There are no student accounts and no passwords. A student opens the page and plays.
- What do we need?
- A desktop or laptop computer with a keyboard and an up-to-date browser, and an internet connection. For the whole-class version, one computer connected to a projector.
- Are they too much like schoolwork for recess?
- They are learning games, so there is a fact or a word in every round, but the rounds are short and there is a score to beat. Code Breaker and Memory Core are pure puzzle and memory games with no school subject at all.
- Can I change how hard a game is?
- Yes. Every game has a Teacher Setup screen for things like speed, which facts, and how many rounds. The links on this page also open some games with a set already chosen.
- Does it collect anything from students?
- No sign-in and no student accounts, and no ad trackers. See the privacy page for the details. Privacy.