Blog · 5 October 2026 · 4 min read
How to run a calculus review game in your class in five minutes
Sign in at playasymptote.com/teach, pick a game (Race, Teams or Gold Rush), a topic (limits, derivatives, integrals or applications), the hardest difficulty and 1 to 30 minutes, and put the six-digit code on the projector. Students join at playasymptote.com/join on their phones with a nickname, no accounts. Press Start, and when time is up you get a podium and the problems the class missed most.
A teacher commented on one of our posts that they had recommended Asymptote to their class. So we built the thing they actually needed: a way to play it together, in the room, on a Friday when nobody has the energy for a worksheet. Here is the whole process.
Before class (one minute)
Go to playasymptote.com/teach. Choose:
- A game. Race (most right answers wins), Teams (the room splits up and team totals race) or Gold Rush (every right answer opens a chest, and some chests steal).
- A topic. Limits, Derivatives, Integrals, Applications, or Everything.
- The hardest problem, on a slider that shows example problems at each level, and anywhere from 1 to 30 minutes.
- Random names, if you would rather every student was a Brave Otter than whatever they would have typed.
You need a free account; your students do not. Rooms take up to 30 players free.
In class (thirty seconds)
Put your screen on the projector. It shows a six-digit code and a QR code. Students go to playasymptote.com/join on any phone, tablet or Chromebook, type the code and a nickname, and their names appear on your screen. If someone thinks they are hilarious, remove them with one tap, then lock the room (or turn on random names next time and skip the comedy entirely).
The game
Press Start. Everyone gets the same problems in the same order, easiest first, and types the answers. Wrong answers show the right one immediately, because it is a review, not a trap. Your screen shows the live race; in Gold Rush it shows a leaderboard that will change hands several times, loudly.
Afterwards (the useful part)
When the clock runs out you get a podium, and then a list of every problem the class answered, sorted by how many got it wrong, with the correct answer beside each. That list is your next ten minutes of teaching. "Play again" runs a fresh round with the same students and new problems.
Tips from the first games
- On a new topic, keep the hardest problem low. A room that gets the first three right keeps going.
- Teams works well for mixed classes: the strong students carry, the rest still answer.
- Show how to type answers first: 3x^2, sqrt(x), sin(x)/x, e^(2x). It takes ten seconds and saves a lot of "it says unreadable".
More questions are answered on the teachers page. Or just open a room and join it from your own phone to see what students see.