Three Tools for Building Your Own Online Games That Aren't Kahoot-like

Earlier today I fielded a question from a reader who was looking for some suggestions for tools he could use to create some online games for his students to play. Specifically, he was looking for some alternatives to the typical suggestions of Kahoot, Quizizz, and Gimkit. There are a lot of options that I could have shared, but there were three that immediately came to my mind.

TinyTap is an app and website that I’ve been using and recommending since its initial launch nearly a decade ago. On the TinyTap platform you can create a variety of educational games for your students to play on their iPads or in the web browser on any computer. I wrote a long series of tutorials on TinyTap last year. My favorite of those was this one in which I explained how to create a game that students talk to. Watch this video for an overview of how to get started making your first game on TinyTap.

Educandy is a service for creating simple vocabulary games and multiple choice trivia games. A convenient aspect of the service is that once you’ve created a list of vocabulary words it will automatically be applied to multiple game formats for you. In other words, write one word list and you’ll get three games that your students can play. Your students can play the games without needing to create an account on the Educandy site. In the following video I provide an overview of how you can create games on Educandy and how your students can access your games.

Flippity has long been one of my go-to recommendations for anyone looking to make games, flashcards, and timelines with Google Sheets. Flippity’s board game template lets you create a game that includes up to eight players, has up to three dice to roll, and interactive game squares. You game can also include videos, pictures, Google Drawings, and graphs. And your students can play your game without an email address or having to create any kind of online account. Take a look at my short video below to see how you can create and play your own online board game.

Three Tools for Building Your Own Online Games That Aren’t Kahoot-like

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