Leaderboards
Clear all 31 hexagons and post your time under a nickname. The boards keep the 100 fastest cleared boards of the day, the week, the month, and the year. A nickname is all you need; a state or country is optional, and the game never asks for a real name, a town, or an email address.
Top 100 cleared boards. Resets at midnight, US Eastern time.
No cleared boards today yet. Sweep all 31 and post the first time.
How to Play
Press Play or the Enter key. The clock starts, the board shuffles, and the first hexagon lights up gold. Type the two factors that make that number. As soon as the second digit lands, the game checks the pair: a correct pair turns the hexagon green and moves the gold to the next one, and a wrong pair shakes the boxes, clears them, and lets you try again. There is no submit button and no Enter key to press between answers.
Here is exactly what to type. Each key below is one press.
One pair. 3 × 3 = 9, so you press 3 and then 3.
Either order works. 7 then 8 or 8 then 7 both clear 56.
A middle-row hexagon. 18 has two factor pairs, 2 × 9 and 3 × 6, so you type both pairs before the gold moves on.
Also middle row. 2 × 8 and 4 × 4. A square counts as one pair, so 4 then 4 is the second pair.
- Backspace fixes a first digit
If you press the wrong first digit, Backspace (or the keypad's delete key) clears it before the second digit is judged.
- The clock never pauses
Sixty seconds is the whole round. When time runs out you see how many hexagons you cleared and which one you were on.
- Your best time stays on this device
A win records the time in seconds and tenths. Beat it and the game says so. Nothing is sent anywhere and no account is involved.
Why the Middle Row Is Different
The factors 2 through 9 make 36 different pairs, but only 31 different products, because five products can be made two ways: 12 is 2 × 6 and 3 × 4, 16 is 2 × 8 and 4 × 4, 18 is 2 × 9 and 3 × 6, 24 is 3 × 8 and 4 × 6, and 36 is 4 × 9 and 6 × 6. Those five always sit in the purple middle row, shuffled among themselves, and each one asks for both pairs. That is where most rounds are won or lost. A learner who has only memorised one pair for 24 stalls there, and the clock keeps going.
The middle row is also the most useful part of the game to teach from. Knowing that 24 is both 3 × 8 and 4 × 6 is exactly the flexibility that later makes 24 ÷ 6, factoring, and simplifying fractions feel obvious instead of new.
Keyboard, Keypad, and Sound
On a computer, type with the number row or the numeric keypad. Each physical key press also lights the matching key on the on-screen keypad, so a child watching can follow along. On a phone or tablet, tap the on-screen keypad. It is the same keypad Math Builders uses during practice, so a learner who already uses the app needs no explanation. The game never opens the phone's own keyboard, so the board stays visible while you type.
The chimes are short and soft: one tone for a cleared hexagon, a two-note tone for the first pair of a middle-row hexagon, a low tone for a miss, a tick through the last ten seconds, and a short fanfare for a win. The speaker button above the board turns all of them off, and the choice is remembered on that device. Nothing plays until you press Play, so the page is silent on load.
Using the Sweep in Class or at Home
Teachers have used a sweep like this as a warm-up for years: put it on the projector, hand one student the keyboard, and let the class call out factors. Because the board shuffles, the same five minutes works day after day. A class best time on the board is a stronger motivator than any grade, and a learner who clears the honeycomb once usually wants to do it faster.
The Sweep is a game, not a diagnostic. It shows that a learner knows the facts under pressure; it does not tell you which facts are slow on a normal day. For that, run the multiplication timed test, which records every fact's response time, or use multiplication facts practice with its slow-fact feedback. A learner who cannot get past the middle row benefits from a week on the times tables practice hub on the 3s, 4s, and 6s before coming back. The game works alongside that practice; it is not a replacement for it.
For a round that asks for products instead of factors, try the Speed Grid, a multiplication grid with a snake on your heels, or Bubble Tank, where you pop the facts you know before the water rises. See all free multiplication games on Math Builders.
Credit
The honeycomb, the sixty-second clock, and the two-pair middle row come from The Sixty Second Sweep on Scratch, a 2013 project by a fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Gordon, who credits Mr. Simmons for showing it to him. This version keeps the rules, shuffles the board every round, and adds the app's keypad so it plays on a phone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Type the two factors of every hexagon, in reading order, before the sixty-second clock runs out. There are 31 hexagons. The five in the middle row each need two different factor pairs.
No. For 18 you can type 2 then 9, or 9 then 2. Both clear the same pair. On a middle-row hexagon you still need the other pair as well, so after 2 × 9 you type 3 × 6.
Yes. The game shows the same on-screen keypad Math Builders uses for practice, so you tap the digits. On a computer you can use the number keys or the keypad on screen.
No. Every round shuffles the 26 single-pair products across the outer rows and shuffles the five double-pair products inside the middle row, so you cannot memorise a path.
Clear all 31 hexagons and post your time with a nickname and, if you like, your state or country. The boards keep the 100 fastest cleared boards for the day, the week, the month, and the year, in US Eastern time. Nicknames go through a word filter, and the game never asks for a real name, a town, or contact details.
Yes. The speaker button above the board turns the chimes off, and the choice is remembered on that device.