Three free 2D shape games
Shape Detective asks you to look at what stays the same when a shape turns. Choose Name the shape, Count sides and corners or Find the matching shapes. Each activity has eight challenges, its own saved route and a completion sticker. There is no countdown, speed score, lost life or automatic sound. Correct answers stay visible until you choose Next challenge.
Recognise shapes in different orientations
Name the shape includes circles, triangles, squares, rectangles, pentagons, hexagons and octagons. The diagrams appear in different colours and orientations. Triangles can have different side lengths and angles; they do not all look like an upright equilateral triangle. Turning a square so a corner points upwards does not turn it into a new shape.
Choose one of four names and check. If you need another look, Turn shape rotates the diagram by 45 degrees. Its proportions and properties stay the same. A circle has no useful orientation to turn, so its turn control is disabled.
Count straight sides and corners
Follow the outline once all the way round. A triangle has three straight sides and three corners; a pentagon has five of each, a hexagon six and an octagon eight. Every square and rectangle here has four straight sides and four corners. A corner is the point where two straight sides meet.
The questions deliberately say straight sides. A circle has a curved boundary and no straight sides or corners. This avoids mixing a curved boundary with a polygon’s straight sides. Optional corner numbers help you track each point without counting it twice. This help can reveal the answer and carries no penalty.
Sort by properties
Read a rule such as “Find every shape with 4 straight sides.” Choose every matching diagram from the six displayed, then check your set. A shape can match regardless of its colour, size or direction. Some rounds ask for corners, some for straight sides, and one asks for shapes that do not have four corners. The number of matching diagrams varies.
Tap a selected diagram again to clear it. An incomplete or incorrect set stays in place with guidance, so you can review each outline. After a correct set, the explanation describes the property that makes those diagrams belong.
Squares are rectangles too
A rectangle has four right angles. A square also has four right angles, with the extra property that all four sides are equal. That makes a square a special rectangle. In the naming activity, Square is offered as its specific name without Rectangle as a competing correct option. Both squares and non-square rectangles match a four-straight-sides rule.
This activity does not use “diamond” as the mathematical name for a turned square. It also does not assume every pentagon or hexagon is regular. The names describe the relevant properties, rather than a preferred orientation or a particular colour.
Touch, mouse and keyboard controls
Tap or click a name, number or diagram. Use Tab to move between controls and Enter or Space to choose one. No dragging, tracing or fast reaction is needed. Check my answer confirms a choice; Next challenge advances only when you choose it. Activities returns to the menu without resetting the route.
Each diagram has a written outline description for assistive technology. The descriptions include its straight-side and corner counts; Show an explanation and corner numbers offer similar support visually. These are supported practice activities, not tests of independent knowledge.
Keep your route and collect stickers
The chosen activity, current challenge, selected diagrams or answer, and turn angle save in this browser on this device when local storage is available. After reopening, choose Continue activity. The three routes are independent, so starting another activity keeps your unfinished work. Explanations and the corner-number display start closed on reopening.
Finish eight challenges to earn that activity’s sticker in the sticker book. Try a new set replaces only that completed route with a fresh mix; some familiar shapes and rules may appear again. Earned stickers remain. If saving is unavailable, the game explains that progress lasts only while this page stays open.
The favourite control adds the game to Your games on the homepage. This is device-based progress: a different browser or cleared storage starts fresh. No account or installation is needed to play.
Explore more early geometry and maths
These activities cover selected recognition and property work found in England’s primary mathematics programme. They do not teach all geometry, 3D solids, formal angle measurement, perimeter or area. Ask a learner to explain why a turned shape keeps its name, or why two different-looking diagrams match the same rule.
For another visual maths activity, try Fraction Workshop or Ten-Frame Fill. The separate Which One? Shapes deck is a conversation game about favourites, with no right or wrong choices; it is different from these geometry challenges.
For reflections across vertical, horizontal and diagonal mirror lines, try Symmetry Workshop: 36 pattern challenges and saved free drawing.