If you’re looking for a classroom review game that gets students excited, competitive, and completely engaged, The Unfair Game might become your new favorite teaching strategy.
Unlike traditional review games where students simply answer questions for points, The Unfair Game adds strategy, surprise, and suspense. Students never know whether a question is worth positive or negative points, and they must decide whether to keep the points or give them away before the point value is revealed.
The result?
A fast-paced review game students absolutely love.
Even better, you do not need to spend hours building complicated linked slides or designing the game board yourself.
I created an editable Unfair Game Template that already has all the slides linked and organized for you, so you can simply type in your own questions and start playing.
What Is The Unfair Game?
The Unfair Game is a classroom review game where teams answer questions and then make a strategic decision:
- Keep the points for themselves
- OR give the points to another team
Here’s the catch…
Students do not know if the point value is positive or negative until after they choose.
That means:
- A team might accidentally give another group +50 points
- Or they might dump -40 points onto another team
- Every question becomes exciting because anything can happen
This unpredictability keeps students engaged from beginning to end.
Why Teachers Love The Unfair Game
High Engagement
Even students who normally do not participate get involved because every turn matters.
Perfect for Review Days
Use it before:
- Science tests
- State testing
- Unit exams
- End-of-year review
- Vocabulary practice
No Prep Once the Template Is Ready
The hardest part of making games like this is usually:
- Linking slides
- Creating navigation buttons
- Building the question board
- Organizing answers
- Making score systems
That is exactly why I made the template.
Teachers can simply:
- Type in questions
- Add answers
- Change point values if desired
- Play immediately
How to Play The Unfair Game
Step 1: Divide Students Into Teams
Most teachers use:
- 2 teams
- 3 teams
- Or even 4 small groups
The game works well with almost any class size.
Step 2: Teams Choose a Number
Each number on the game board links to a question slide.
Questions can be:
- Multiple choice
- Short answer
- Vocabulary
- Diagrams
- Review questions
- Test prep
Step 3: Students Answer the Question
The team has a limited amount of time to answer.
After discussion, reveal the correct answer.
Step 4: The Team Chooses “Keep” or “Give”
Before seeing the point value, the team decides:
- Keep the mystery points
- OR give them to another team
This is what makes the game so fun.
Step 5: Reveal the Point Value
The next slide reveals whether the points are:
- Positive
- Negative
- Small
- Huge
The room usually erupts at this point.
Step 6: Continue Until All Questions Are Used
At the end, the team with the highest score wins.
Best Subjects for The Unfair Game
This game works with almost any topic, including:
- Science review
- Math facts
- Vocabulary
- Reading comprehension
- Social studies
- Test prep
- Seasonal themes
- Holiday games
I especially love using it for:
- Science vocabulary
- NGSS review
- State test prep
- Bellringer review
- End-of-year activities
The Easiest Way to Make Your Own Unfair Game
Honestly, building one of these games from scratch can take forever.
Linking every slide manually is tedious and frustrating.
That is why I created my editable Unfair Game Template.
The template already includes:
- Linked game board
- Question slides
- Answer slides
- Point reveal slides
- Editable text
- Ready-to-use structure
You simply type in your own questions and play.
It saves teachers a huge amount of time.
I have several templates to choose from.
If you want a classroom game that students beg to play again, The Unfair Game is a fantastic option. And if you do not want to spend hours linking slides yourself, my editable template does all the hard work for you.
You might also like my Grudeball Games!
