Logic & Puzzles

Pattern Race

Grades 4+ · whole-class race + solo

All 81 robo-pets — every combo of body, color, eyes, and antenna. Find a TRIO: three pets where EVERY feature is all-same or all-different, and tap it before anyone else. Solo sprints, zen mode, and live whole-class races on one shared board. Behind the cuteness: the geometry of lines in four dimensions — and a problem that stumped mathematicians until 2016.

For Educators

Built for the classroom

Structured pattern recognition with real mathematics underneath. Each robo-pet is a point of F₃⁴ (four base-3 digits); a trio is a LINE — per feature the values sum to a multiple of 3. Students level up from scanning to DEDUCING: any two pets determine exactly ONE completing third (the Dojo's Third Pet lab trains building it feature by feature). The No-Trio Hunt walks them into the cap-set wall — the largest trio-free board is exactly 20 (Pellegrino 1971) — and the gated theorem page tells the 2016 story (Croot–Lev–Pach / Ellenberg–Gijswijt) of the breakthrough that cracked the general problem. Original art and attributes throughout.

Grades 4+ · solo Sprint (3 min, 8+ trios earns the license) and Zen (untimed, with an honest "no trio here!" challenge) · live races 3/5/10 minutes.

Three ways to play

Sprint & Zen (solo)

Sprint: 3 minutes against the clock — 8+ trios earns the Pattern License. Zen: no clock, plus a no-trio challenge button that only believes you when you're right.
Host a Race

One shared board on the projector; pick 3/5/10 minutes. First tap takes each trio (+2); wrong taps cost 1. The server is the judge.
Join on any device

Same live board on every screen — when someone claims, everyone's board updates instantly. Fastest eyes win.

Run a live class in 5 steps

Open the Race — pick the length; share the 4-letter code / QR / link.
Students join on any device; the same 12 pets appear everywhere.
First tap takes each trio (+2). Wrong taps cost 1 — deduce, then tap.
Watch for the dealer adding 3 extra pets: that means the board truly had no trio (it happens ~3% of the time!).
Afterwards, send fast finishers to the Dojo's No-Trio Hunt — and ask how big a trio-free board can possibly get.

Tip: host on a laptop or projector (the big screen shows the code, QR and leaderboard); students join on their phones or laptops.