Your first abacus, right at home.
Video lessons and a soroban on screen, for ages 2 to adult. No soroban school and no real abacus needed to start today.
Free to download · In-app purchase available
Scan the QR code with your camera
Learn by video
One short video for one thing.
On-screen soroban
Practise by tapping. A real abacus is optional.
Ages 2 to adult
From number play to exam practice, all in the same app.
Start for free
Free to try. Monthly if you keep going.
All the soroban practice, in one place.
Each one comes with a video that explains it, and questions to work through straight after.
Abacus
Short videos from a professional teacher take the bead moves a step at a time, and the soroban on the same screen lets you try them at once. 107 lessons run from addition and subtraction through to multiplication and division.
Times Tables
Start by looking over the Times Tables, then drill each times table three ways — In order, Random and Fill in the blank — and check it with a Test. Soroban multiplication stops whenever a times table will not come, so they are here to be settled first.
Flash Anzan
Numbers appear on screen one after another and vanish; you add them all and type the answer. Forty levels run from 20 Kyu to 20 Dan, and seven right out of ten is a pass.
Mental Sums
Add and subtract a column of numbers from top to bottom. The levels are finely split by combinations of digits and count, starting at the easy end.
Mental Multiplication & Division
Reproduce the bead procedure in your head and work multiplication and division mentally. It comes after the times tables and the abacus itself.
Receipts
Five numbers sit on a page. Flip it up and the next five appear, with columns (1) to (5) each adding up separately. No pad of paper slips to make, and the flip feels close to the exam and the contest.
Dictation of Sums
Numbers are spoken, not shown, and you add them as they come. It runs from easy questions up to competition level, read aloud in 11 languages. You can also build questions of your own and keep the audio.
Worksheet Maker
Printable practice problems created independently by the app, modelled on the guidelines published by Japan's three abacus exam bodies — Nisshuren, Zenshuren and Zenshugakuren. Sums, Multiplication, Division and Receipts, plus their mental counterparts, from Dan down through the Kyu grades. Choose the school name, how many sets, and whether the answers come with them.
Number Play
Number games for ages 2 and up: trace a number, count, compare, friends of 5 and 10, a board game, share out. Every number is read aloud, so children can play long before they can read — the gentlest way in, well before the soroban.
Always a question that fits you.
In Dojo Mode, a run of correct answers moves you up a level and a run of wrong ones moves you down.
Difficulty that follows you
You never have to pick a level yourself — what comes up sits just above where you are now.
An AI sets your starting grade
Take the level check first and a handful of questions place you where you belong. No guessing where to begin.
Collect the ranks
From beginner up through master to the highest rank. A rank once earned is never taken back.
* The two dictation events split by reading language, and Flash Anzan splits by digit width. Progress is tracked separately for each.
The app speaks your language.
Switch the interface language any time from inside the app — for families living abroad, and for children who want to learn arithmetic in more than one language.
* Dictation of Sums is read aloud in all 11 languages too.
Start free.
Go premium monthly when you're ready — with discounts for schools. The store shows the price where you are.
Free
- Every Number Play game
- Practice freely on the on-screen soroban
- The opening lessons of every mode
- The first levels of Dojo Mode
Premium
- Video lessons and practice on every stage
- Every level of Dojo Mode
- Exam-practice worksheets as PDF
- Create Dictation of Sums (11 languages)
- Cancel or resume anytime
For Schools
- A Sorobase ID for each student
- Pick up at home where class left off
- Create accounts in Soroban Portal, starting with one
* Subscriptions can be cancelled or resumed anytime. The price is the one shown in your store.
No soroban, no soroban school needed.
Free to start. On the App Store and Google Play.
Before you start.
Is the app free to use?
Yes. The basics are free — you can try the on-screen soroban and the intro lessons at no cost. Premium unlocks every feature as a monthly subscription; the App Store and Google Play show the price where you are. Cancel or resume anytime.
What ages is it for?
Number Play suits about age two with a parent alongside. Times tables from around five, the soroban from five or six. The soroban runs in stages, so it carries from primary school to adults.
Do I need a physical abacus?
No. You practice by tapping the on-screen soroban, so you can start right away without owning one.
Which devices are supported?
iPhone and iPad via the App Store, and Android phones and tablets via Google Play.
Can I use it without attending a soroban school? Can schools adopt it?
Yes. You can learn entirely at home, and it also works for review or preview alongside classes. For soroban schools, there is a school plan at ¥500 (JPY) per account per month.
Which languages does dictation of sums support?
Dictation of Sums is read aloud in 11 languages. The menu lists it in the app's display language and in English.
Bring your school into the home.
Give every student their own Sorobase ID, so they can keep practicing at home right where they left off in class. Accounts are created in Soroban Portal, a web-based service for abacus schools, from ¥500 (JPY) per account per month. Questions are welcome too.
See Soroban Portal
Scan the QR code with your camera