Gimkit: Interactive Classroom Game

Gimkit

Gimkit is an interactive game-based learning assessment platform. It is similar to other tools such as Kahoot, Quizizz, Quizlet, etc. In my opinion, Gimkit has it all. Once I started using Gimkit with my students, they would literally beg me to do it everyday. It is also not limited to just younger grades students. In fact, Gimkit was created by a high school student in 2017. He was used to playing Kahoot games (don't get me wrong, I love Kahoot) and felt that he could alter it to be better. 

Gimkit allows teachers to create "kits" which lets them customize questions for their specific lesson by creating or finding specific quiz questions. Students can either play independently or in live mode. The questions are presented to students in no particular order and earn money based on their answers. Students start out by earning $3 per every correct question, but they can shop for power ups to earn more money per question.  Power ups include:

• More money per question
• Streak bonus 
• Multiplier (every dollar in or out gets multiplied!)
• Insurance (you only pay out a certain amount when you get a question incorrect)
• Freezing another student from answering questions for 15 seconds

Game Modes:

Gimkit has lots of game modes and some change throughout the year. Some of the modes that stay the same are classic (individual) and team mode. The newest modes are Draw That and Trust No One. 

• Draw That: This mode is brand new (as in came out last week brand new). It is similar to Pictionary. The game picks a drawer to draw a vocabulary word and the rest of the class tries to guess that word by typing it in. There is a time limit for each word and it reveals letters similar to a hangman style as the time limit gets closer to ending. 
• Trust No One: This game mode was inspired by Among Us. This game has no money and power ups. Instead, students are assigned a role at the beginning, either crew or imposter. The more questions they answer correctly, the more power they acquire. As they acquire more power, it helps their team get closer to winning. More information on this game mode can be found here.

Other modes include: 

• Infinity Mode
  
• Humans v. Zombies
• Boss Battle
• Super Rich Mode
• Hidden Mode
• Drained Mode

You can read about all of these modes on the Gimkit blog.

Playing Gimkit

Once you create your kit, you're ready to play. At the beginning screen, you will see different options for the game goal. They are timed, race, and all in. In timed, you set a certain time limit and whoever has the most money at the end of that time wins. In race mode, the game ends when a student reaches the amount of money you set. In the all in mode, the game ends when the entire class reaches a certain amount of money. 

From there, you have many different options you can choose from for students in the game. I usually give my students some money to start off with, but you can always start at $0. You can see all the options for your game below. I like to turn off answer check, because the questions will be presented to students again depending on how many you have. I also usually turn off clapping, because my students get distracted and will play with that over listening to the answers at the end. 

Gimkit Ink

Gimkit recently came out with another part of Gimkit separate from the games mode, called Gimkit Ink. Gimkit Ink is all about publishing student's work. In this mode, students can share their writing with their teacher and other classmates, as well as others beyond their classroom. Students always benefit from more writing opportunities and this is a great way for students to engage in authentic writing opportunities. Here are two great posts that detail how Gimkit Ink can work in your classroom: 

• Gimkit Blog
  
• The Merrills Edu Blog
  

The biggest downside to Gimkit is the free version really doesn't give you enough to consistently play it. You do get a 30-day free trial when you first sign up to determine if you want to continue using it with the pro features. 

Want to learn more about using Gimkit? See the video below for a quick overview of how the game looks on both the teacher and student end. If you're interested in using this in your class, let me know and I'll be happy to help you get set up and playing with your students!