Answers submit themselves the moment they're right — no Enter key, no wasted tenths.
Mental Math — a free arithmetic speed drill in your browser
One problem at a time, a countdown in the corner, and one question: how many can you get? Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, mixed at random, with numbers chosen so every answer is a whole number. Type on a keyboard or tap the on-screen keypad — the answer submits itself the instant it's correct, so no time is lost hunting for Enter.
Two lengths, each with its own record table: 60 seconds for a quick sharpener, and 120 seconds, the length used by the arithmetic drill that trading firms' candidates practise on. Free, no download, works on any phone or desktop.
How to play
- Pick 60s or 120s — they're scored separately, because they're different tests.
- Type the answer with the keypad or your number keys. It submits automatically when correct.
- A wrong answer just clears itself — there's no penalty except the seconds you burned.
- Your score is problems solved before the clock hits zero.
Four tricks that add ten points to your score
Round and correct. 47 + 38 is horrible; 47 + 40 = 87 is instant, then subtract the 2 you borrowed → 85. The same move eats subtraction: 83 − 29 becomes 83 − 30 + 1 = 54. Almost every two-digit sum has a nearby round number, and your brain adds tens far faster than it adds units.
Split the multiplication. 7 × 68 is not one problem, it's two easy ones: 7 × 70 = 490, minus 7 × 2 = 14, giving 476. Distributing over a round number beats grinding through the standard algorithm every time.
Read division backwards. Fast players don't divide at all — they ask a multiplication question. Faced with 372 ÷ 6, don't divide; ask "6 times what lands near 372?" Sixty gets you to 360, twelve short, so the answer is 62. The times table you already know does the work.
Know your squares to 25. They anchor an enormous number of shortcuts, because any product of two nearby numbers is a square minus a small correction: 19 × 21 is 20² − 1 = 399. Fifteen minutes of memorising squares pays back permanently.
One last piece of strategy that matters more than any trick: speed comes from not stalling. A problem you can't see a route into is costing you two or three you could have banked. There's no penalty here for a wrong keystroke, so type your best guess, let it clear, and keep the rhythm going.
More games
More things to be fast at: Typing Test, Reflex Test, or Number Memory. Or browse all games.