Mr Sharma covers Year 4 on a Wednesday and Year 7 on the same Friday afternoon. He doesn't know either class, doesn't know either teacher's plans, and has never visited either school before. One link. Two sessions. Both classes engaged. Both classes asked if he was coming back.
verified_user No IT request needed · Works on any browser · No student accounts
Mr Sharma's Supply Kit
kidoku.app/live
Write on the board. That's it.
Setup time
Under 2 minutes
Curriculum knowledge needed
None
"Can you come back next week?"
Mr Sharma covers around twelve schools a month. The variation is the job: different year groups, different subjects, different rooms, different class cultures. Some days the work plan is detailed. Some days it says "maths activities" and nothing else.
He has a single page of backup activities for when a lesson runs short or the plan falls apart. Kidoku is at the top. He writes the link on the board and says "this is a live puzzle race." That's the extent of the introduction.
Year 4 on the Wednesday worked without him having to explain more than the URL. Students started in pairs, then competitive dynamics took over. By ten minutes in, the room was generating its own energy. Mr Sharma answered questions about the puzzle — not about classroom management.
Friday Year 7 was initially reluctant. Secondary students are harder to crack, and they don't want to appear enthusiastic in front of each other. The first student to beat a classmate's time changed the room temperature. Within four minutes, four separate small competitions had broken out without Mr Sharma initiating any of them.
At the end both days, students asked whether this was something their regular teacher could set up. He sent the link to both form tutors. Both classes came back to it the following week.
For a supply teacher, the goal is a functional, engaged room for the duration. Kidoku doesn't require you to know the class. It creates engagement on its own terms. The game is the curriculum. You're just the person who opened the link.
There's no setup, no IT request, no student accounts. Works on any device with a browser. The game manages itself for the entire session.
kidoku.app/live. That's all students need to type on any device — phone, iPad, school Chromebook. No download, no login. Anyone with a browser is in within thirty seconds.
First-time players understand what to do within their first game session. The logic is self-demonstrating — no walkthrough needed from you. You don't need to know sudoku to run the session.
Once the competition starts, the room generates its own momentum. Students challenge each other, track times, and ask for rematches — without needing you to manage the activity. You circulate and support.
Kidoku isn't linked to a specific year group or subject scheme. It's logic puzzle competition. You don't need to know the class's topic, their teacher's scheme, or anything about their prior learning.
Browser-based, no download. Works on school Chromebooks, students' phones, classroom iPads. No IT department request, no network special access, no software install required.
The 4×4 Animal grid works for primary. The 9×9 Classic is a genuine challenge for secondary. The same game at different complexity scales across the full age range you might cover in any given week.
Mr Sharma's Supply Teacher Checklist
Zero setup — write URL on board
Works on school devices, no install
No curriculum knowledge needed
Class self-manages after 2 minutes
Students ask if you're coming back
You're in an unfamiliar school with an unfamiliar class. The last thing you need is a safeguarding question about a tool you introduced. Kidoku is designed to be safe without requiring any configuration from you.
No student accounts — auto-generated usernames only. No personal data collected.
No chat — no player-to-player messaging inside sessions. Nothing to monitor or moderate.
No external links — the game is self-contained. Students cannot navigate away to other content from within it.
One link. Any classroom. Any age. The game manages the rest. You manage the room.
Everything you need to know about Kidoku Live for this use case.
Kidoku Live is specifically designed for this scenario. Visit kidoku.app/live on your phone or classroom computer, create a room in five seconds, write the code on the board. Students join on their devices — no accounts, no instructions beyond 'solve the puzzle fastest'. The session runs itself. No lesson plan required.
No. You do not need to know the rules. The game explains itself to students through the interface. Your role is to create the room and display the code. The competitive live leaderboard manages student engagement from that point. Supply teachers consistently report they use it for every age group they cover, regardless of subject.
All year groups. Animal Grid 4×4 for Key Stage 1 (ages 5–7). 4×4 and 6×6 Classic for Key Stage 2 (ages 7–11). 6×6 to 9×9 for secondary. The teacher selects the grid size when creating the room, or lets students choose their own difficulty. Even Year 10–11 students engage with 9×9 Classic in a competitive timed format.
Kidoku Live works on individual student mobile data if school WiFi is unavailable. The game is data-light — a session uses less than 1MB. Students sharing a mobile hotspot can also connect. The browser-based format means no university WiFi blocklists typically apply to the domain.
You need at least one device per student (their phone is sufficient). You need to display the room code — writing it on the board requires no technology. Projecting the teacher leaderboard view enhances the experience but is not required. The minimum setup is: room code on the board, students on phones.
Whatever school, whatever year group, whatever's left of the lesson plan — kidoku.app/live is the backup that earns you a return booking.
No setup · No IT request · Works on any school device