Circuit Game

Circuit Game is an electric circuit builder puzzle. You get a breadboard, a battery and a tray of parts, and your job is to wire up a circuit that does exactly what the level asks: light a bulb, make two bulbs glow dim, sound a doorbell buzzer or spin a fan the right way. Play this circuit game free in your browser, on desktop or on your phone, with no download or sign-up. It also works as an electricity game for students.

How to play

Pick a part from the toolbar under the board, then tap the gap between two holes to place it there. Parts that meet at a hole are joined.

• Wires join holes. With Wire selected you can also drag across the board to draw several wires at once.
• Batteries push current out of the + end, around the circuit and back into the – end. Each one is 3 V. Tap a battery you placed to turn it round.
• Switches open or close the loop. Tap a switch to flip it.
• Bulbs, buzzers and motors only work when current flows through them. A bulb can be off, dim, bright or very bright.
• Erase removes a part you placed. Parts on grey plates are fixed to the board and can’t be moved.

The goal box says what each level needs, and the line under the board shows each labelled part’s state. Moving yellow dots show where current flows, so you can see which loop is complete and which wire is a dead end.

What the 24 levels teach

The first levels are about the closed loop: current only flows when there is an unbroken path from one end of the battery back to the other, and an open switch is a gap in that path. After that come the two big ideas of simple circuits:

• Series: bulbs in one loop, one after another, share the battery voltage, so each glows dim.
• Parallel: bulbs on their own branches each get the full voltage, so each glows bright.

Later levels add a doorbell, a fan that has to spin clockwise (a DC motor reverses when you reverse the battery), two batteries in series for 6 V, and switch logic. On a switch level the game tests every on and off combination of the labelled switches, so an AND circuit (two switches in series), an OR circuit (two switches in parallel) or a bypass switch has to work in every setting, not just the one you left it in. A short circuit, a path made only of wire straight from battery + to battery -, makes the battery turn red, shake and warn you, and the level can’t be cleared until you fix it.

Stars, sandbox and saving

Each level has a par: the number of parts our stored solution places. Finish with par or fewer parts for three stars, up to two over par for two stars, and any working circuit earns one. Every level’s stored solution is checked automatically, so every level can be solved. Your stars and unlocked levels are saved in your browser.

Sandbox mode gives you unlimited parts to build anything you like, and your board is saved. The Learn button opens a short card on how circuits work.

Tips

• Trace the loop with your finger. Start at battery +, follow the wires through each part and check that you end up back at battery -.
• Dim means series, bright means parallel. If a goal wants a bulb bright, give it its own path from the + row to the – row.
• Share wires. Parallel branches can share one + wire and one – wire, which is how you beat par on the bigger levels.

FAQ

Is Circuit Game free?

Yes. It’s free with no account and no install.

Can I play it on a phone or Chromebook?

Yes. Tap parts and gaps on a touch screen, or use a mouse. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move a cursor, T turns it between across and down, Enter places a part and keys 1 to 7 pick a part.

Is the electricity realistic?

It is simplified but follows the real rules. The game solves the circuit with the same kind of calculation engineers use for resistor networks, so series bulbs really are dimmer and parallel bulbs really are brighter. Real bulbs, buzzers and motors are more complicated, so treat the brightness levels as a guide, not a measurement.

Which way does current flow?

The moving dots show conventional current, from + to -. Electrons in a metal wire actually drift the opposite way, but both describe the same circuit.

Like puzzles with a clear goal? Bounce a beam into every target in Laser Game, or turn every tile until the water flows in Pipe Game.