Math Duel
Answer first; a wrong answer costs a point. First to 7.
Math Duel is a two-player quick-thinking maths game in which both players see the same sum and three answers, and the first to tap the right one scores a point. A wrong tap costs a point. First to the target wins.
The same sum appears upright for one of you and upside down for the other, with three big answers under each thumb. The first right tap stamps your colour across it, and the risk of losing a point makes you think before you tap.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- First to 7
- Length
- About 1 to 2 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Math Duel: quick rules
About 1 to 2 minutes at first to 7. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1The same sum shows on both sides.
- 2Tap the right answer first to score a point.
- 3A wrong answer costs a point and a short wait.
- 4First to 7 wins, and the options pick Kids, Mixed or Pro.
Math Duel rules
A question
- A countdown comes before every question, and the sum stays hidden until GO, so nobody can read ahead.
- A small label on each half shows the level and penalty in force, so both players know the rules.
- Both halves show the same sum and the same three answers in the same order, each turned to face its player. Exactly one answer is right.
- The first right tap scores a point and closes the question. Taps after that cost nothing.
- If nobody gets it within about 10 seconds (15 on Pro), the right answer flashes, nobody scores, and the next question follows.
Wrong answers
- A wrong tap costs you a point and locks your three buttons for a moment. Your rival can keep answering.
- Your score never goes below 0, but a wrong tap at 0 points locks you a little longer, so guessing is never free.
- The answer you got wrong stays switched off for you until the next question, so you can't tap it twice.
Ties and close calls
- Taps count from the moment your finger touches the button, not when it lifts.
- If both right answers land at practically the same instant, it is a “Dead heat”: nobody scores and a new question follows. After repeated dead heats, a coin toss gives the point, so a match can't loop.
- A right answer beats a wrong one tapped at the same moment.
Winning
- First to the target wins: 5, 7 or 10. There is no draw and no sudden death, and you can't lose the match by wrong taps alone.
- A rematch keeps the same options and starts again from 0 each.
Levels
- Kids
- Adding and taking away, with answers from 1 to 30 and never a negative number.
- Mixed
- All four operations with everyday numbers, and the default.
- Pro
- Bigger multiplication and division, with a little more time per question.
Tips to win at Math Duel
- 1Read the whole sum before you look at the answers. The wrong answers are built from common slips, such as the wrong operation or swapped digits.
- 2Speed matters less than accuracy: a wrong tap costs a point and locks you while your rival keeps answering.
- 3Rule answers out quickly. Check the last digit or whether the answer should be odd or even before working out the full sum.
- 4If you aren't sure, wait. When nobody answers in time, nobody loses a point.
- 5Rest your thumbs near your buttons between questions, since taps count the moment your finger touches down.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- Red plays the bottom half and Blue the top half, turned to face the top player. Each half has three answer buttons near the player's edge.
- Only touches that start in your own half count for you, and only your first tap on a question's buttons counts at a time.
- Buttons are large and span the width of the half, so nothing depends on which hand you use.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 57 (default)10 | The score that wins the match. |
| Level | KidsMixed (default)Pro | Sets the kind of sums both players get; pick Kids for a gentler game with a first-timer. |
| Wrong answer penalty | Lose a point (default)Lock only | Lock only removes the lost point, and a wrong tap locks you a little longer instead. |
| Relaxed timing | Off (default)On | Doubles the time for each question and halves the wrong-answer wait, for both players. |
Play Math Duel against the bot
The bot plays Blue and gets exactly the same sum and answers as you. It never copies your finger and never sees the answer early; it works the sum out in its own time, and after a wrong tap it is locked just like you, then answers correctly.
Easy
Slow to answer and slips more often, picking a believable wrong answer such as the wrong operation or swapped digits. On Kids, a beginner can beat it.
Normal
Answers at a steady pace and slips now and then.
Hard
Quick and rarely wrong, but never perfect.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- One phone onlyMath Duel is a race to tap first. A fraction of a second of internet delay would decide who answered first, so it stays on one phone.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it is always first to 7 on Mixed, with the lose-a-point penalty and relaxed timing off, whatever your saved options.
- Hints
- No hints here: it has no single best move to point at.
Coming soon
- More levels. Further question levels, such as fractions and squares.
- Devanagari digits. An optional setting to show answers in Devanagari digits instead of 0 to 9.
How it feels
- A bright stamp in the scorer's colour across the sum, with confetti from the right button and a bounce on the score.
- Flames that grow around your score on a streak of three or more right answers, and go out when the streak breaks.
- A low buzz, a shake and a dimmed half for a wrong tap, with “Wrong! −1 · wait…” under the sum.
- Haptics follow your phone's settings and the in-app vibration switch.
Accessibility
- Right and wrong show a tick or a cross and a shake as well as green and clay, so colour is never the only cue.
- Relaxed timing and Lock only make the game gentler for slower readers, and apply to both players equally.
- With reduced motion, stamps, shakes and flames become plain colour changes.
- Digits use a clear, high-contrast font, and a screen reader reads each sum in words and each button's number.
Math Duel questions
You lose a point and your buttons lock for a moment while your rival can still answer. With the Lock only option, you keep the point but stay locked a little longer.
Kids is adding and taking away up to 30, Mixed uses all four operations with everyday numbers, and Pro has bigger multiplication and division.
If both right answers land at practically the same instant, it's a dead heat and nobody scores. After repeated dead heats a coin toss gives the point.
Yes. Math Duel in Duo Clash is built for two players on the same phone. Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
No. Math Duel is a race to tap first. A fraction of a second of internet delay would decide who answered first, so it stays on one phone.
About 1 to 2 minutes at first to 7.
Play Math Duel on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
