Finding your trail…

Play BrainSnail in your browser

BrainSnail is a quiz game built around one idea: you remember more from a two-minute round you actually finish than from an hour you meant to spend revising. Everything above this text is the game itself - it is running already, it needs no download and no account, and it saves as you go.

Behind it sits a library of 46,177 questions arranged into 390 units across 22 subjects, from cell biology and the Roman republic to music theory, bread chemistry and the rules of citizenship. Every one of them carries a written explanation, because being told you are wrong teaches you nothing on its own.

The browser version is the same content as the Android app, with the same progression. If you play here and later install the app, signing in carries your XP, streak and shells across.

How a round works

  1. 1. Pick a subject. Each one opens into a set of units - a topic group like “The Cell”, “Ancient Egypt” or “Baking and Pastry”.
  2. 2. Follow the trail. A unit is a path of short steps that unlock in order, so you are never left deciding where to start. Later steps are harder than earlier ones, and challenge rounds pull together everything before them.
  3. 3. Answer the round. A step draws a handful of questions from the unit’s bank and mixes the formats, so a round might move from a multiple choice to a drag-to-order to a spelling puzzle. After each answer you get the explanation before you continue.
  4. 4. Collect and move on. Finishing a step awards XP and shells and unlocks the next one. Come back tomorrow and the streak keeps counting.

XP, shells, hearts and gems

The scoring is deliberately simple, and it rewards finishing rather than being perfect first time.

The 21 kinds of question you will meet

A quiz that only ever asks multiple choice gets boring in about four minutes, and it only tests recognition. BrainSnail mixes 21 formats, and a single step will usually use several of them. Recalling a word from letter tiles is a different mental job from picking it out of a list, and both are worth doing.

Multiple choice

Pick the one correct answer from a list.

True / false

A statement the player marks true or false.

Fact or fib (swipe)

Same as true/false but presented as a quick swipe.

Multiple select

Pick ALL correct answers (2 or more correct).

Match pairs

Match each item on the left to its partner on the right.

Tap the pairs

Fast matching - tap a left card then its right match.

Categorize / sort

Sort each item into the correct bucket. This is the 'sort' game.

Odd one out

Pick the item that doesn't belong.

Fill the blank

Complete a sentence; put a ____ in the prompt.

Word bank

Build the answer by tapping words in the right order.

Spell it

Spell the target word from letter tiles.

Type the answer

Free-text answer, checked forgivingly (case/typos ok).

Number guess

Slide to a number; correct within a tolerance.

Order the sequence

Put steps/events in the correct order.

Sequence recall

Memorize a sequence, then repeat it.

Memory match

Flip cards to find matching pairs.

Flashcard

Show a prompt; flip to reveal; self-rate. No wrong answers.

Fact card

A 'Did you know?' fact the player acknowledges.

Picture quiz

Show a big emoji 'picture' + multiple choice.

Listen & choose

The prompt is read aloud (TTS); pick the match.

Label the diagram

Tap a labelled part of a drawn diagram (app has a built-in cell diagram).

What you can study

Every subject below is playable right now. The link on each one opens its reading page, which lists the units in the order they are meant to be worked through and explains who the track suits.

BiologyLife science, from the first cells to the molecular machinery of life - one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,067 questionsHistoryThe human story, from the Stone Age to the modern world - one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,115 questionsGeographyOur planet and its people, from continents and oceans to cities and climate - one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,141 questionsScienceThink like a scientist: observe, measure, test, and explore how the world works - one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,321 questionsMathFrom counting and shapes to algebra, calculus and beyond - number magic one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,161 questionsChemistryThe science of atoms, reactions and materials, from your first fizzing experiment to university-level theory.18 units · 2,060 questionsPhysicsHow the world works, from pushes and pulls to atoms and relativity - one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,143 questionsAstronomy & SpaceThe Sun, Moon and planets to galaxies, black holes and the Big Bang - explore the universe one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,160 questionsWorld MythologyGods, heroes, monsters and creation stories from every corner of the world - the tales humans have told for thousands of years, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,023 questionsAnimals & NatureEvery kind of creature, from the pets on your street to deep-sea fish and vanishing tigers - how animals live, behave and survive, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,028 questionsFood & CookingWhere food comes from, what heat does to it, how the world cooks, and the science behind every good meal - one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,064 questionsLaw & CitizenshipRules, rights, courts and how countries govern themselves - from playground fairness to constitutional law, one tiny step at a time.12 units · 1,302 questionsDinosaurs & Prehistoric LifeTyrannosaurus to trilobites, mammoths to molecular palaeontology - the whole story of ancient life and how we dug it up, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 1,955 questionsArtMake, see and understand art - from your first crayon to art history and criticism, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,320 questionsReligionThe world's religions - beliefs, festivals, sacred texts, ethics and big questions - explored as shared human heritage, from first steps to university.18 units · 2,158 questionsMusicHear, read and understand music - from your first clap of a beat to scales, chords, history and theory, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,147 questionsPhilosophyThink about the big questions - what is real, what is right, what can we know - from your first wonder to logic, ethics and the great thinkers, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,179 questionsTechnologyHow our gadgets, computers, code and the internet really work - from your first tap on a screen to programming, AI and cybersecurity, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,148 questionsPsychologyHow the mind works - feelings, memory, learning, the brain, and why people do what they do, from your first curiosity to research methods and disorders, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,155 questionsEconomicsHow money, choices, and the whole economy work - from needs and wants and saving your first coins, to supply and demand, markets, banking, trade, and university macroeconomics, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,144 questionsLanguage & LiteratureWords, stories and poems - from your first letters and rhymes to grammar, literary devices, the classics and university criticism, one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,226 questionsSportsFrom playground games and the Olympics to the pro leagues and the science of the moving body - one tiny step at a time.18 units · 2,160 questions

Questions about the web version

Do I need an account to play?
No. The game starts as soon as the page loads and your progress is written to your browser's local storage. Signing in is optional and only adds cross-device sync, so you can carry the same XP, streak and shells between your laptop and the phone app.
Is it really free?
Yes. Every subject, unit and question on the site is playable at no cost, and there is no trial that expires. The Android app offers an optional paid upgrade that removes ads and lifts the hearts limit, but nothing here is locked behind it.
Where is my progress saved?
In your browser, on the device you are using. That means clearing site data or switching to a private window starts you over. If you want progress to survive that, sign in - then it is stored against your account and restored on any device you use.
Does it work on a phone?
It does. The layout is built for a phone screen first, and every question type is tap-driven rather than keyboard-driven. There is also a native Android app if you would rather have an icon on your home screen and offline play.
What are hearts for, and what happens when I run out?
Hearts are the wrong-answer allowance for a session. You start with 3 and lose one each time you answer incorrectly. They come back on their own at a rate of one every 30 minutes, or you can refill them immediately for 50 gems. Running out ends the round, not your progress - everything you already answered still counts.
Can I replay a step I have already finished?
Yes, and it is worth doing. Steps are not fixed tests: each one is a blueprint that draws a fresh set of questions from the unit's bank every time you start it, so a replay is a genuinely different round. Replaying is also how you turn a one-shell step into a three-shell one.
I think one of the answers is wrong. What do I do?
Tell us and we will fix it. Every question carries an explanation for exactly this reason - if the explanation does not hold up, the question needs changing. Email the subject and the question text and it usually gets corrected within a couple of days.
How is this different from the learn pages?
The learn pages are the readable version of the same question bank: each one lays out what a unit covers, how its steps are ordered, and a set of worked examples with their explanations. Use them to see what is in a unit before you play it, or to review afterwards without starting a round.

Where to go next

Browse the full question library to see what a unit covers before you play it, read the explainer articles for the longer version of a topic, or see how the questions are written and checked. Found something wrong, or want a subject we are missing? Write to hello@brainsnail.com or use the contact page.