Shape Lab: a shape addition and subtraction game for the 11+

About Shape Lab

Shape Lab practises three non-verbal reasoning skills: putting figures together, taking one figure away from another, and spotting similar shapes, which are the same shape at a different size. A round is 15 experiments in three labs of five. Each lab leans on one topic, and its fifth experiment is a containment test: a harder puzzle worth 1,000 bonus points.

A wrong answer bubbles over, and a card explains the trap, such as keeping only the overlap or stretching a shape one way instead of scaling it. Three right in a row sets off a chain reaction with double points, and six in a row triples them. The review at the end scores each topic and explains every trap. Shape Lab is part of the full 11+ Arcade, included in every Prep4All plan.

How to play Shape Lab

1. Choose a starting level: Trainee (easy), Researcher (medium) or Professor (hard).
2. Press Start the experiments, or switch on Daily challenge first to play today’s puzzles at Researcher level.
3. Read each experiment and tap an answer, or press keys 1 to 5.
4. Get three right in a row to set off a chain reaction: double points and a bonus crystal each time.
5. Pass the containment test at the end of each lab for 1,000 bonus points.

What it practises for the 11+

Shape Addition

Your child lays one figure exactly on top of another and picks the result, which keeps every line and part of both; harder questions turn a figure first, add three figures, or ask which two figures make a target. Tracing both figures onto one sheet of thin paper is a quick way to check that no line has been left out. Learn the topic →

Shape Subtraction

Your child takes the second figure away from the first and picks what is left, whether that is a bite out of a corner, a cut right across, some of the lines or some shaded squares. Lay the second figure over the first: only the part they share is cut away, and the new edge follows the cut-out’s outline. Learn the topic →

Similar Shapes

Similar means the same shape at a different size: every length grows or shrinks by the same amount, and the shape may be turned but not stretched one way or flipped over. On squared paper, a 2 by 3 rectangle doubled is 4 by 6, not 4 by 5, which is a good check to try together. Learn the topic →

Combining and comparing shapes is part of non-verbal reasoning, which GL Assessment, CEM, ISEB and many independent schools set; FSCE and CSSE set no reasoning papers.

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All non-verbal reasoning games → · All 11+ games →