How it works

Racing and algebra, completely inseparable

Volt Racers is not an algebra worksheet with a racing skin on top. The algebra is the game. You cannot race without doing the maths. You cannot do the maths without racing.

Here is how it works.

The basics

Your car has a number. Batteries have equations.

Every race starts the same way. Your car is given a number — the value of x for that race. You can see it on your car throughout the entire race.

Batteries stream past alongside the track. Each one shows a full algebraic equation — something like 3x + 1 = 13 or x² − 2 > 10.

Your job is to work out which battery is true for your x value and tap it. Get it right and your car charges forward. Get it wrong and you stall briefly while the other cars pull ahead.

That is it. That is the whole game.

Your car

x = 4

Batteries streaming past

3x + 1 = 13 ✓

3x + 2 = 13 ✗

2x + 5 = 13 ✗

Key point

The algebra is not a mini-game between races. It is the race. Every second spent thinking is a second the other cars are moving.

The maths

Real algebra. Every single battery.

When a player taps a battery, they are doing algebraic substitution. They are taking the value of x shown on their car, putting it into the equation on the battery, and checking whether the equation holds.

This is exactly the skill covered in the KS3 National Curriculum — substituting numerical values into formulae and expressions.

The game does not simplify this or turn it into a multiple choice guess. A player who finishes a race has correctly evaluated every battery they tapped.

A player who loses has evaluated some of them incorrectly and learned exactly which ones — the post-race feedback shows step-by-step working for every wrong answer.

The opponents

Six drivers. Six personalities.

Your child is not racing alone. Six NPC drivers race alongside them, each with their own x value and their own style.

Blitz

Fast · inaccurate

Boom-and-bust. Often leads early and fades late. Great fun to overtake.

Amp

Slow · almost never wrong

Methodical. Hard to beat on longer races. Always hovering nearby.

Apex

Fast · accurate

The toughest opponent. The last one your child will face.

Here is what makes this interesting: each opponent has a different x value. The battery that charges your child's car will stall Blitz, because Blitz's x value makes that equation false.

This is not a cosmetic detail — it means the correct choice is genuinely different for every car on the track. Players do not see these mechanics explained. They just notice that Blitz always starts well and fades, and Amp is always hovering nearby. They learn their opponents by racing them.

Difficulty

Three circuits, one clear journey

The game is divided into three circuits. Each covers a different level of algebraic complexity. Difficulty increases naturally as players progress through them.

Circuit 1 · Free to play

Linear Cup

Simple equations. One or two operations. Positive whole numbers for x. The kind of expression a confident Year 7 student should be able to evaluate.

Circuit 2

Quadratic Grand Prix

Brackets. Expressions involving x². Negative values of x — including the famously confusing (−3)² = 9, not −9. True-or-false batteries using > < ≥ ≤ instead of a number to match.

Circuit 3

Cubic Championship

Four-term expressions. x³. Decimal values of x where the answer may need rounding. The most complex substitution in the KS3 strand.

Players do not see a difficulty level or a number. They just notice that the batteries get harder as they progress. The game adapts quietly in the background — if a player is struggling it eases back, and if they are coasting it pushes forward.

Feedback

Wrong answers are part of the learning

Volt Racers does not treat a wrong answer as a failure to be penalised. It treats it as the moment to teach.

After every race, the post-race screen shows your child exactly what went wrong. Not just "that was incorrect" — but the full step-by-step working: here is what the equation was, here is what your x value gives when you substitute it, here is the result, and here is why the battery you tapped was wrong.

This is the same explanation a teacher would write on a board. The game generates it automatically for every wrong answer, every race.

Post-race feedback

⚡ 3x + 2 = 13 · x = 4

1 Swap x for 4 → 3 × 4 + 2
2 Multiply → 12 + 2
3 Add → 14

14 ≠ 13. This battery was wrong for x = 4.

If a player loses five races in a row, the game offers a fresh start — a new x value, new batteries, a new sequence. It is framed as: sometimes a change of approach is all you need.

Rewards

Earn Voltage Points. Build your car.

Every race earns Voltage Points — VP for short. More for winning, more for accuracy, more for answering quickly. A hot streak of three correct answers in a row multiplies the earnings.

VP is spent in the Garage. Players choose from eight chassis — the body shape and silhouette of their car. They pick colours for five independently painted zones: body, cockpit surround, front wing, rear wing, and wheels. They add decals — racing stripes, sidepod graphics, livery patterns.

Everything in the Garage is cosmetic.

A player with the flashiest car has no advantage in a race. A player who just started with the plain starter car can beat anyone.

Nothing costs real money. All cosmetics are earned through gameplay.

Accessibility

Built for every child

Volt Racers ships with a full set of accessibility options. These are on by default where appropriate, and all of them follow the player across devices.

Platforms

Plays anywhere

Volt Racers runs in any modern web browser. It also wraps as a native app on iOS and Android. Progress syncs across all of them — a player who plays on a school laptop will find their progress waiting on their phone at home.

The browser version works on school Chromebooks, Windows laptops, Macs, iPads, Android tablets, and phones. No installation needed for the browser version.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play No install needed Play in browser

Try it before you buy

The Linear Cup is free. No account needed.

No email address, no registration, no payment details. Just open the game and play.

Play the Linear Cup free See pricing →

If your child enjoys it and you want to unlock the Quadratic Grand Prix and Cubic Championship, the full game costs £3.99. One payment. No subscription. No further purchases ever.