Play Eli's Ladder Online

Game Overview

Eli’s Ladder is one of those rare Atari 2600 games that’s actually educational—but somehow still fun. You guide Eli, a little alien, up a ladder by solving math problems. Each correct answer moves him higher, and if you get enough right, he does this adorable little jump when he reaches his spaceship. The "WOW" flashing on the screen feels like a legit achievement, even if you're an adult.

It’s simple but smart: problems pop up with four possible answers, and you just move the joystick to pick. The left difficulty switch lets you toggle between addition and subtraction, while the right one sets single or two-player mode (handy if a parent wants to help). There’s even a counting apples screen for younger kids who need a break from numbers.

Three game modes keep it from getting stale—Practice (no timer), Pacer (a moving plus/minus sign acts as a clock), and Phantom (where only the current answer choice is visible). The Phantom mode is weirdly tense, like math sudoku with a time limit. And yeah, it’s for kids, but good luck not getting competitive with yourself after a few rounds.

It’s charmingly retro, right down to the beeps and blocky graphics. Just don’t forget to set the difficulty switches before starting—nothing worse than realizing you’re stuck in subtraction mode when you wanted addition.