Gim Kit: Complete Guide to Gimkit, the Classroom Game Show Platform
Gim kit, more commonly written as Gimkit, is a game-based learning platform created by a high school student in 2017 where students join using a unique five-digit code, answer teacher-made questions to earn virtual cash, spend that cash on in-game upgrades and power-ups, and compete or collaborate inside a growing library of more than 28 game modes including classic quiz formats, 2D exploration worlds, team battle modes, and a Creative mode where users build their own interactive game environments.
Originally built as a high school project in Seattle by Josh Feinsilber, Gim Kit has grown into one of the most popular classroom engagement tools worldwide, with over 100,000 students regularly using it, praised by teachers because students genuinely ask to play it again rather than treat it as just another review tool.
This complete guide covers everything about Gimkit, including how it works, all game mode categories, pricing plans, how to host a live game, how to assign homework, student progress reports, and how Gimkit compares to Kahoot and Blooket.
What is a Gim kit?
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Platform Name | Gimkit (also searched as gim kit) |
| Website | gimkit.com |
| Created By | Josh Feinsilber, high school student, Seattle |
| Founded | 2017, originally as a school project |
| Platform Type | Game-based learning and classroom review tool |
| Student Currency | Virtual cash earned by answering correctly |
| Join Method | Five-digit game code at gimkit.com/join |
| Game Modes | 28 plus, across five categories |
| Free Plan | Yes, Gim kit Basic with rotating three modes |
| Pro Plan | $14.99 per month or $59.88 per year |
| Department Plan | $650 per year |
| School Plan | $1,000 per year |
| Pro Trial | 14-day free trial for new educators |
| Student Accounts | Optional, students can join without logging in |
| Platforms | Browser-based, any device |
Gimkit is a classroom game platform where students answer teacher-made questions to earn virtual cash, buy upgrades, and collaborate or compete inside 2D game worlds. Teachers can host live sessions, assign homework-style games, import content, roster classes, and pull detailed reports.
Created by a high school student from Seattle, Gim Kit was designed from the student’s perspective rather than from an educator’s administrative lens. Josh Feinsilber built it for a school project in 2017, aiming to design a game that other students would want to play. That origin story is central to why Gim Kit works differently from most educational technology.
How Gimkit Works
The Core Loop
Gim kit transforms the standard quiz format into a dynamic, strategy-based game show that students genuinely ask to play. The magic lies in the repetition. Because students want virtual money to buy upgrades, they willingly answer questions repeatedly without realizing they are drilling core concepts.
The basic flow works like this. Teachers create a kit, which is Gimkit’s term for a set of questions. They select a game mode from the available library. Students join using a five-digit code entered at gimkit.com/join. Students answer questions, earn virtual cash, spend cash on upgrades and power-ups, and compete or collaborate depending on the mode. The teacher sees a real-time dashboard and receives a full performance report after the session ends.
Kits: The Question Sets
A kit in Gimkit is the equivalent of a question set in Blooket or Kahoot. Teachers can write their own kit from scratch, copy and modify pre-existing games from the Gim kit community library, or import content from other platforms.
Each kit contains multiple-choice questions that appear on students’ individual devices. Questions can include text, images, and audio on the Pro plan.
Virtual Cash and Power-Ups
Students earn virtual cash for every correct answer. The amount earned per correct answer depends on the student’s current upgrade level. This creates a compounding dynamic where a student who answers correctly early can purchase upgrades that earn more per future correct answer, while a student who falls behind struggles to catch up without sustained accuracy.
Power-ups available for purchase vary by game mode but typically include the ability to earn more cash per answer, earn a second chance on an incorrect answer, protect yourself from other players’ attacks in competitive modes, and other mode-specific bonuses.
All Gimkit Game Mode Categories
Gimkit organizes its game modes into five categories, each with distinct mechanics and classroom applications.
Featured Modes
These are the modes Gimkit highlights as most popular and most versatile across different grade levels and subjects.
Classic: The original Gimkit mode. Students answer questions, earn cash, buy upgrades, and the highest earner wins. Classic is the best starting point for teachers new to Gim kit because it is simple, competitive, and effective for test review. There is no team complexity, no map navigation, and no special mechanics to explain before starting.
Gimkit Live: The live-hosted mode where all students play simultaneously in real time. The teacher controls the pace by starting and stopping sessions, and the game ends at the teacher’s discretion or after a set time limit.
KitCollab: A unique collaborative mode where students can create their own questions for the game in real time. This turns the review session into a co-creation activity in which students contribute content rather than only consume it. KitCollab develops higher-order thinking because creating a good question requires deeper understanding than answering one.
2D Modes
The 2D modes represent Gimkit’s most significant evolution from a simple quiz tool into something closer to a video game built around learning. Students move an avatar called a Gim around a map while answering questions.
Fishtopia: Students explore a fishing-themed map, cast lines, and catch fish by answering questions correctly. The fishing theme makes the question-answering feel purposeful within the game narrative rather than like a quiz with a map attached.
Don’t Look Down: A climbing-themed mode that rewards steady correct answers. Students climb higher with each correct answer and fall back with each mistake. The visual height metaphor creates constant visible consequence for accuracy, keeping students acutely aware of their performance.
One Way Out: A collaborative survival mode where students work together to escape a scenario by answering questions to progress. Cooperation is required to advance, creating team accountability and peer motivation.
Snowbrawl: Students throw snowballs at opponents by answering questions correctly, hitting them to reduce their score. The competitive action element makes question answering feel combative in a playful, low-stakes way.
Blastball: A soccer-style game mode where answering correctly contributes to team ball-possession and scoring opportunities. Blastball blends academic competition with a sports-themed narrative.
Fun Picks
This category contains modes selected for their entertainment value and lighter engagement style, suitable for energy breaks, celebrations, or shorter sessions.
These modes prioritize fun over structured competition and are excellent for maintaining classroom energy during longer teaching days without sacrificing content engagement.
Tycoon Twists (formerly Classic Twists)
Tycoon Twists are variations on the Classic format that add strategic economic layers to the standard question-and-answer loop.
Students in Tycoon mode manage resources, make economic decisions, and answer questions to fuel their in-game financial growth. This category appeals particularly to students interested in strategy and resource management, adding a decision-making layer that pure quiz formats cannot replicate.
Fun and Games
The Fun and Games category includes modes that de-emphasize score and competition in favor of participation and creative engagement. These modes work well for lower-stakes review, introduction of new material, or end-of-week celebration sessions.
Creative Mode
Creative Mode is Gimkit’s most ambitious feature. It lets users build their own interactive game worlds with doors, keys, enemies, and teleporters. Teachers can build custom learning environments tailored to specific curriculum goals. Students can also build in Creative Mode, turning content creation into the learning activity itself.
The 2D and Creative modes are a major evolution, turning the platform from a simple quiz tool into something closer to a video game built around learning. For teachers, Creative Mode opens up a completely new dimension of engagement. For students, it makes Gim kit feel less like a classroom tool and more like a game they would actually choose to play on their own time.
Gim kit Pricing Plans
Gim Kit offers several pricing tiers based on usage scale.
| Plan | Price | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Basic (Free) | Free forever | Host live games, basic reports, 3 rotating game modes, no images or audio |
| Pro | $14.99 per month or $59.88 per year | All game modes, Assignments, image and audio questions, copy other teachers’ kits, more Creative slots |
| Department | $650 per year | Multiple teacher accounts for a department |
| School | $1,000 per year | School-wide teacher accounts |
| Pro Trial | 14 days free | Full Pro access for new educator accounts |
The free version, Gimkit Basic, is open to all teachers with an educator account. It allows hosting games and viewing performance reports. However, Gim kit Basic comes with a limit. Only three game modes are available at one time and these modes rotate, meaning they change every so often.
The realistic limitation of Basic is that the most-loved modes, particularly the 2D Creative-built modes, require Pro. Teachers who try the Pro trial and experience these modes often find it difficult to return to the three rotating options on Basic.
How to Set Up and Host a Gim kit Game
Step 1: Create or Find a Kit
Log in at gimkit.com and navigate to your Kit library. Either create a new kit by writing questions from scratch or search the community library for an existing kit on your topic. You can copy and modify any community kit to tailor it to your specific class needs.
Step 2: Select a Game Mode
From your kit, click Host and browse the available game modes. Each mode displays labels describing its characteristics such as emphasizes interaction, strategic, or collaborative. Choose a mode that matches your classroom energy and learning goal for the session.
Step 3: Configure Settings
Adjust session settings, including game duration, number of questions per round, team options (if the mode supports them), and any mode-specific settings. The lobby opens with a five-digit game code.
Step 4: Share the Code
Display the five-digit code on your classroom screen. Students enter it at gimkit.com/join on their own devices. Students can join without logging in, though logged-in students receive tracked progress and saved earnings.
Step 5: Start the Game
Click Start Game when the lobby is ready. The session begins across all student devices simultaneously and the teacher dashboard shows real-time performance data.
Step 6: Review Reports
After the session ends, access detailed reports showing which students answered which questions correctly or incorrectly, overall class performance, individual student accuracy, and time-on-task data.
Gim kit Assignments: Homework Mode
For asynchronous use, teachers can also assign Homework Mode through the Assignments feature. Students get a multi-day window to play on their own pace. Same kit, same questions, no live host needed.
Homework Mode is how many middle school teachers use Gim kit for unit review the night before a big test. Students complete the assignment independently at whatever time works for them within the assignment window.
The Assignments feature is available on the Pro plan. Basic plan users can host live games but cannot create assignments.
Student Experience in Gimkit
Students join games as a guest or with an account. Guest play requires only the five-digit game code and a name choice. Account-based play saves progress, coins, and unlocked characters called Gims.
Students answer multiple-choice questions on their own devices and earn virtual currency for each correct answer. They spend this currency on upgrades that increase their earning rate per correct answer, protect them from other players, or provide mode-specific advantages.
In 2D modes, students also control a character called a Gim that moves around a map. This requires students to balance answering questions, which fuels their in-game progression, with moving their character on the map to collect items or avoid hazards. This mode is complex and works best with classes that are already comfortable with Gimkit’s basic mechanics.
The repetition mechanic is Gimkit’s most powerful feature. Because students want to earn more virtual money to buy better upgrades, they willingly answer the same questions repeatedly. This voluntary repetition is what makes Gim Kit an effective formative assessment tool rather than just an entertainment platform.
Gim kit for Specific Classroom Scenarios
Test Review Before an Exam
Classic mode or a Featured mode gives every student immediate individual feedback, making it ideal for identifying gaps the night before or day before an exam. The Homework Assignment version of any kit works for the evening before.
Introduction to New Material
KitCollab mode, where students create their own questions, works well for activating prior knowledge before introducing new content. Students reveal what they already know through the questions they generate, providing the teacher with formative data on their starting points.
Team Building and Collaboration
One Way Out and Blastball are explicitly collaborative modes where individual performance directly affects team outcomes. These modes work well for building classroom community early in the year or for energizing a group that has become individually competitive to the point of disengagement.
End-of-Unit Celebration
Fun and Games category modes or any 2D mode work well for an end-of-unit celebration where the content review matters but the energy and fun of the session are equally important goals.
Gimkit vs Kahoot vs Blooket
| Feature | Gimkit | Kahoot | Blooket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Created By | High school student, 2017 | Business team, 2013 | Brothers Ben and Tom Stewart, 2020 |
| Core Mechanic | Virtual cash, upgrades, power-ups | Point scoring, time pressure | Coins, collectible Blooks |
| Game Modes | 28 plus across 5 categories | Limited, mostly one quiz format | Multiple modes per question set |
| 2D World Modes | Yes, major feature | No | No |
| Creative Mode | Yes, build custom game worlds | No | No |
| Free Plan | Yes, 3 rotating modes | Yes, limited | Yes, full basic access |
| Paid Plan | $59.88 per year | $17 per month per teacher | Similar pricing |
| Homework Assign | Yes, Pro plan | Yes | Yes |
| Student Accounts | Optional | Optional | Optional |
| Best For | Middle school and high school, strategy engagement | Elementary and any quick quiz | Elementary through high school |
| Repetition Mechanic | Yes, core design | No, one-and-done per question | Yes, similar to Gimkit |
Gimkit is better for solo practice and sustained engagement because of its upgrade mechanic, which rewards repeated correct answers throughout a session. Kahoot is better for quick competitive buzzer-style energy with a large group. Blooket sits between them, with a simpler reward system than Gim kit but more mode variety than Kahoot.
What Research Says About Gimkit
A 2021 ERIC study found students using a portable digital review game answered roughly three times as many practice questions in nineteen days as students who got paper worksheets. The caveat is selection bias since studies that publish tend to have positive effects.
Real classroom outcomes depend on how the teacher uses the tool. A Gim kit session, run as a five-minute warm-up, reinforces the material. The same session run as forty minutes of passive time-filling reinforces almost nothing. The literature flags this consistently. The platform is a multiplier on teacher pedagogy, not a substitute for it.
Public reviews give Gimkit 4.5 out of 5 across verified educator reviews with a 90 percent recommendation rate. The most common praise focuses on student willingness to engage and the visible excitement during 2D mode sessions.
Tips for Getting the Most From Gimkit
Start with Classic mode. Teachers new to Gimkit should begin with Classic before exploring 2D modes. Classic delivers immediate results without the complexity of map navigation or team mechanics.
Use KitCollab for diagnostic assessment. Having students create questions before a unit reveals their prior knowledge and provides the teacher with formative data that guide instruction more effectively than a pre-test.
Match mode to energy level. Teachers can match the mode to their goal, choosing a calm individual mode for focused review or a chaotic team mode for energy and fun. Every class responds differently.
Use the community kit library. Before writing questions from scratch, search the Gimkit library. A well-made kit on your exact topic may already exist and can be imported, copied, and modified.
Assign homework mode the night before a test. The Homework Assignment feature is particularly effective for unit review because it provides students with low-stakes, repeated practice in an environment they voluntarily engage with.
Introduce Creative Mode gradually. Creative Mode is powerful but requires explanation and setup time. Introduce it during a low-pressure session before using it for critical review.
Frequently Asked Questions About Gim Kit
What is gim kit or Gimkit?
Gim kit, properly written as Gimkit, is a game-based learning platform where students earn virtual cash by answering teacher-made questions and spend it on upgrades during competitive or collaborative game modes. It was created by high school student Josh Feinsilber in 2017 as a school project.
Is Gimkit free?
Yes. Gimkit Basic is free forever for teachers. It includes live game hosting and basic reports but limits users to three rotating game modes. Gimkit Pro costs $14.99 per month or $59.88 per year and unlocks all 28 plus game modes, Assignments, and Creative Mode. A 14-day Pro trial is available for new educators.
How do students join a Gimkit game?
Students visit gimkit.com/join and enter the five-digit code displayed by the teacher. No account is required. Students can join as guests by entering their name and the game code.
What game modes does Gimkit have?
Gimkit has 28 plus game modes organized into five categories: Featured, 2D Modes, Fun Picks, Tycoon Twists, and Fun and Games. Popular modes include Classic, Fishtopia, Don’t Look Down, One Way Out, Snowbrawl, Blastball, and KitCollab.
What is Gimkit Creative?
Gimkit Creative is a mode that lets teachers and students build their own interactive game worlds with doors, keys, enemies, and teleporters. It transforms content delivery into a customizable game design experience and is available on the Pro plan.
Who created Gimkit?
Gimkit was created by Josh Feinsilber, a high school student from Seattle, in 2017 as a school project. He designed it specifically from a student’s perspective, aiming to create a review tool that students would genuinely want to use.
What is a Kit in Gimkit?
A Kit is Gimkit’s term for a question set. Teachers create kits containing multiple-choice questions, then select a game mode to host a live session or assign it as homework. Kits can include text, images, and audio on the Pro plan.
Can Gimkit be used for homework?
Yes. The Assignments feature available on Pro plan lets teachers assign kits as homework with a multi-day completion window. Students complete the assignment at their own pace without a live teacher host.
How many students can play Gimkit at once?
Gimkit does not publish a strict player limit for most modes, making it suitable for full class sessions. Multiple classes can play simultaneously if teachers have separate accounts.
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