6 new YouTube Playables games add Khan Academy, TED-Ed

YouTube added six new educational Playables games built with Khan Academy, Veritasium, TED-Ed, Math with Mr. J, Black Girls Code, and The Jed Foundation, turning STEM, music, and mindfulness concepts into short interactive games, according to YouTube's announcement published today.

As with every other Playable, these free games on YouTube require no download, run inside the app or browser already open, and let players save their progress and track their best scores, the same mechanic YouTube introduced when it expanded Playables in 2024, per YouTube.

YouTube says its overall Playables catalog has grown to hundreds of titles spanning more than 80 countries, though the company hasn't confirmed whether all six new games are live everywhere at once, according to its announcement.

This covers where to find the games, what each one actually does, how the lineup fits into Playables' broader growth, and what "educational" really means here.

How to play the new YouTube Playables games

Playables lives in its own section of YouTube's Explore menu on the Home page, in both the mobile app and on the web, a layout YouTube described when it widened Playables access in 2024, per YouTube. There's no separate download: open Explore inside the YouTube app already on your phone, or head to youtube.com.

To try a specific title, search for it by name, such as "Newton's Glider" or "Elements of Truth." YouTube hasn't explained how quickly new titles reach every account or market, so a direct search is worth trying before assuming a game hasn't arrived yet.

The six new games, grouped by what they teach

Physics and math

Khan Academy's Newton's Glider has players steer pucks through directional-force puzzles, aiming to build intuition for inertia and motion, according to YouTube's announcement.

Math with Mr. J's Lure of the Labyrinth: Vending Machine asks players to figure out coin values to help a monster buy the right snack on break. It was built with Maryland Public Television, the MIT Education Arcade, and FableVision Studios, per YouTube.

Music

TED-Ed's BackTrack Pro walks aspiring musicians through constructing chord progressions to build a full song, YouTube says. Black Girls Code's SuperNova has players help Nova after her bandmates cancel before a gig, auditioning new bandmates, jamming to beats, and unlocking secret choruses, according to YouTube's announcement.

Science trivia

Veritasium's Elements of Truth is a trivia game built around confidence-based scoring, designed to challenge scientific reasoning, per YouTube's announcement.

Mindfulness

The Jed Foundation's Reset Mode offers guided breathing and mindfulness exercises meant to help players de-stress, reset, and recharge, YouTube's announcement explains.

YouTube frames this batch as a partnership push, saying it "teamed up with incredible creators and organizations" to turn complex ideas into "bite-sized, hands-on fun," per its announcement. These YouTube Playables from creators and nonprofits span physics puzzles, math reasoning, music composition, science trivia, and a mindfulness exercise, all in one release.

How this lineup fits into Playables' growth

Playables started as a limited test with a small group of users in select markets in late 2023, then expanded more broadly in May 2024, when YouTube's wide release brought more than 75 games to Explore, YouTube said in 2024. That post listed examples available at the time, including Angry Birds Showdown, Cut the Rope, and Trivia Crack, and said YouTube would be "widening availability to more users over the coming months."

The catalog has grown substantially since then, from the 75-plus titles at that 2024 debut to the far larger library described above, making this education-focused batch one addition to an already expanding service rather than a standalone launch.

Playables also keeps pulling in outside studios, which can submit their own games for YouTube's review. PlayZap Games, a studio that runs skill-based tournaments in casual games such as solitaire and 8-ball pool, said two weeks ago it would launch five new titles on Playables, including Rush Party, after submitting its first game for Google's review three months ago, according to Cryptogames.gg.

PlayZap said its two existing Playables titles logged more than 500,000 plays in the last 30 days and drove a 60% jump in its YouTube subscriber count, though those figures are self-reported and haven't been independently verified, the report notes.

What "educational" means for these titles

These six games touch on physics intuition, math reasoning, music theory, scientific reasoning, and mindfulness, but calling them "educational" is YouTube's own framing. Its announcement doesn't include independent testing of whether playing them actually builds those skills or eases stress, so treat the label as intent rather than a proven outcome.

What to do now

Open YouTube on a phone or at youtube.com and check Explore for the Playables section, or search a title directly, such as "Newton's Glider" or "Elements of Truth." If nothing turns up, check back later: YouTube hasn't detailed how rollout works by account or region, so a missing game doesn't necessarily mean it isn't coming to you yet.