Help
Quick answers about playing AhaBulb. Can't find yours? Ask AhaBulb and it will point you to the right page or pass your question to the AhaBulb team.
- Can I play offline?Yes. Once you have opened the game, it keeps working with no signal. Your answers are saved on the device and sent when you are back online. The Daily Sprint, Make a Deck and the live leaderboard need a connection.
- Can I play without an account?Yes. Open /play/ and start. You play as a guest with a random fun name and avatar, and your progress is kept on that device. Save your progress with your email or Google to keep it on every device.
- Can I sign in with Google?Yes, if you are 13 or older. Tap Continue with Google on /join/. Google only tells us your email address and that Google has confirmed it. Kids under 13 always sign in with a parent's PIN instead.
- Can my family share one email? 路 For parentsYes. One email can hold several players. Each person gets their own player, score and avatar. Add players from /me/ with "+ Add a player", and pick who is playing after you sign in.
- How do I change my email?Sign in, go to /me/, tap Change my email, type the new address and enter the 6-digit code we send to it. After that, sign in with the new email. Your devices stay signed in.
- How do I contact AhaBulb?Email [email protected]. We read everything, including questions, corrections, topic ideas and business or sponsorship questions. To suggest a topic, you can also use /ideas/.
- How do I delete my account?Sign in, go to /me/ and choose Delete this player (one person) or Delete the whole account (every player and all scores). Deleting is for good and can't be undone. Parents delete a kid's account at /parent/.
- How do I get a certificate?Learn every card in a test and tap "Get my certificate". Signed-in players get a certificate with a check code and a PDF by email. It is an AhaBulb practice certificate, not an official license or credential. Private health courses print on your device only, with no code.
- How do I install AhaBulb on my phone?AhaBulb installs from your browser, no app store needed. On iPhone, open ahabulb.com in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android, open it in Chrome, tap the menu, then Install app or Add to Home screen.
- How do I like or share a card?On the answer screen, tap the heart to like a fact, or tap Share to send it with your phone's share sheet. Likes and shares help us see which cards people love.
- How do I make a deck?Sign in with a verified email, go to /make/, upload photos or a PDF of your study guide with its answers (up to 20 pages, 25 MB), name it, pick a subject and grade, and tap Make my deck. You can make one per week (AhaBulb members one a day), and it becomes a public card deck with a share code.
- How do I pick a test or course?Tap the course badge at the top left of the game, or pick one at /games/. AhaBulb Everyone is the main daily game; tests and topics like citizenship, pilot, drone, ham radio and driver courses are separate courses you choose to add.
- How do I play a deck someone made?Type the 6-character code on the game home at /play/ or on /guides/, or open the link you were given. Browse every public deck at /guides/. Decks are free, need no sign-up, and don't change your Knowledge Score.
- How do I play the daily game?Open /play/, read the card, tap A, B or C, then read the answer and tap the funnier of the two jokes to get the next card. There is no game over, so play one card a day or a hundred.
- How do I print cards?Open a course's page from /games/ on a desktop or laptop computer and tap "Print the first cards (free)". You get up to 50 cards as a PDF. The print button doesn't show on phones or tablets. The whole test as a printable PDF is a pre-order in the shop.
- How do I report a problem?For a wrong card, tap "Challenge this answer". For a player-made deck, use its flag button. For anything else that is broken, email [email protected] with the page, your device and browser, and what happened.
- How do I sign in?Go to /join/, tap "I already have an account", type your email and enter the 6-digit code we email you. You can also use Continue with Google if you are 13 or older. Kids under 13 sign in with their email and the PIN from a parent.
- How do I sign out?Go to /me/ and tap "Sign out on this device", or use Sign out in the game menu. That signs out only the device you are using. Lost a phone? Email [email protected] and we can sign your account out everywhere.
- How do I suggest an improvement to AhaBulb?Open Ask AhaBulb and tap "Suggest an improvement to AhaBulb" at the bottom. Type your idea and tap Send idea. It goes straight to Allen's list of ideas.
- How do I turn the sounds on or off?Tap the speaker button (馃攰 or 馃攪) at the top of the game. Sounds are on to start. If you are signed in, your choice follows you to your other devices.
- How do invites work?Share your invite link from "Invite friends" in the game menu, on your scores screen or on /me/. You get +10 points for each friend who joins with your link, signs in with an email or Google, and plays a card.
- How do kids under 13 play? 路 For parentsKids under 13 play with a parent's OK. The kid types a parent's email at /join/, the parent gets one email with a code, and at /parent/ the parent adds the kid's birthday and gets a 6-digit PIN for them. AhaBulb never emails kids.
- How do streaks work, and why did my streak reset?AhaBulb has two streaks. Your day streak (the fire number) counts the days you have played and never resets, even if you skip days. Your "in a row" run counts right answers in a row and goes back to zero when you miss a card.
- How do the jokes and the Dad-a-base work?After every answer you see two jokes. Tap the funnier one to keep going; that is your vote. Tap "Delete these from your Dad-a-base" if neither is funny. Jokes nobody picks get retired and the next joke steps in.
- How does the Knowledge Score work?You earn 1 point for each new card you learn, the same in every game mode, plus bonuses for answering quickly (+1), answering quickly (+1), every 5th right answer in a row (+1), your first card each day (+2), every 7th day you play (+5) and your birthday (+5). Your score never goes down.
- How does the leaderboard work, and how do I change my name?The leaderboard shows the top players for the past hour, today, this week, month, year and all time, with their player name, avatar, score and day streak. Signed-in players change their name or avatar on /me/. Guests show a generated name until they sign in.
- How does the shop work? Do I pay now?Everything in the shop at /shop/ is a pre-order. You pay nothing now and we take no payment details on the site. We email you once when your item is ready, to collect payment. Pre-orders are for grown-ups only.
- I didn't get my sign-in codeCodes can take a minute and sometimes land in spam or junk. Check those folders, make sure the email is spelled right, and ask for a new code. If you are 13 or older you can use Continue with Google instead.
- I think a card is wrong. How do I challenge it?On the answer screen, tap "Challenge this answer", say why in a sentence or two (a link helps) and send it. Our AI fact checker reviews it, and a card is only changed or removed when a second AI agrees; otherwise the AhaBulb team decides.
- My deck was flagged or taken down. What now?Anyone can flag a deck or a card. If more than five different people flag a deck, it comes down while we look, and we email you the reasons (never who flagged). You can remove cards and send it back, or appeal. A personal-info flag hides that one card right away.
- Parents: how do I change my kid's PIN or delete their account? 路 For parentsGo to /parent/, sign in with your email and the 6-digit code we send you, then use New PIN or Delete account next to your child. You can do this any time.
- What can Ask AhaBulb answer?Ask AhaBulb answers questions about the site (signing in, scores, courses, player-made decks and more) from AhaBulb's own help articles, and everyday questions from AhaBulb cards. It can't see your account. Personal details are removed before a question goes to DeepSeek, an outside AI. If it can't help, tap "Send this to the AhaBulb team".
- What does "Done for now" do?Tap "Done for now" under any card to see your session: right answers, points, new cards learned and your best run, plus how much of the whole test you have learned. You can share a progress picture with a link to play.
- What does AhaBulb know about me?Very little. You can play without telling us anything. If you add your email, we use it only for sign-in codes and, if you choose, AhaBulb news. We never show or sell it, and there is no ad tracking. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics and our own Umami, both cookie-free. Full details at /privacy/.
- What does my deck's status mean?Your deck's page shows where it is. "In line" and "Being made" mean wait. "Needs the answers", "Needs a look", "Retake a photo" and "Check your cards" mean we need something from you. "Live" means anyone with the code can play.
- What happens to the study guide I upload?Your upload stays private and is deleted 30 days after your deck goes live. Our own computers remove names, grades and other personal details first. Photos are only read by AhaBulb's own computers; DeepSeek, an outside AI, only ever gets the cleaned-up text. The deck never shows who made it.
- What happens when my kid turns 13? 路 For parentsOn their 13th birthday a kid's player becomes a regular account automatically, with the same score and progress. They can then pick their own player name. We let the parent know, and we still send no news unless they turn it on themselves.
- What is AhaBulb Drive mode?AhaBulb Drive mode at /drive/ is the AhaBulb Driving Game. It reads each card and its three answers out loud, and after the beep you answer by saying Alpha, Bravo or Charlie (or one, two, three), or by tapping. Play any test. It is hands-free for the car. Start it before you drive or let a passenger do it.
- What is AhaBulb?AhaBulb is where you learn Stuff Everyone Should Know. It is a free card game, short videos and practice tests about the practical things nobody sits you down and teaches, with a dad joke on every card.
- What is the Daily Sprint?The Daily Sprint is a timed race of the same 10 cards for everyone on a test that day. Your first run of the day counts; later runs are practice. You can also challenge friends to race the same cards; a challenge link is open for 48 hours.
- Where do the answers come from?Every AhaBulb card is built from sources, and Allen approves cards before they go live. Tap "Sources" on the answer screen to open the card's page and see every source with the quote it came from.
- Why is there no password?AhaBulb never uses passwords. Players 13 and older sign in with a 6-digit code we email them, or with Google. Kids under 13 use a 6-digit PIN from a parent. There is nothing to forget or reset.