360°: The Trigonometry Card Game

Meet 360° — Turn Unit-Circle Practice Into Play

360° is a physical educational card game designed to make unit-circle and trigonometry practice more interactive, collaborative, and engaging.

Designed for students learning concepts such as degrees, radians, and equivalent angles, 360° turns repetitive practice into a competitive game for 2–4 players. A planned Classroom Set will support up to 32 students at once and include teacher-facing materials to make classroom implementation easier.

The game has already moved beyond the idea stage: a handmade prototype has been used in three classroom settings, including groups ranging from approximately 7 to 45 students.

Now, I'm preparing to take 360° from a handmade prototype to a professionally manufactured, durable, classroom-ready educational game. Kickstarter support will help make that next step possible.

What if repetitive math practice could feel less intimidating and more like something students actually wanted to participate in?

Math can be challenging for many students, and when students begin to feel like they aren't “good at math,” it can become harder for them to stay motivated and confident enough to keep trying.

I've experienced that feeling myself. In middle and high school, math was a subject I found challenging, and I understand how frustrating it can feel when a concept doesn't immediately click.

Research suggests that game-based and gamified approaches can provide another way to support student motivation and engagement in mathematics. A 2026 systematic review examined 45 studies involving 4,345 secondary and higher-education students. Its meta-analysis found a statistically significant small-to-moderate positive effect on student motivation in mathematics, while the broader review found that most included studies reported positive effects on motivation and engagement 

(Ratinho et al., 2026).

That research connects closely with what I have observed while working directly with high-school students. Some students struggle with motivation, confidence, and staying engaged when mathematical concepts feel difficult or repetitive.

Having experienced some of those same feelings toward math when I was younger, I wanted to explore a different approach. One that could make practice feel more approachable while encouraging students to participate, interact with one another, and keep trying.

That idea became 360°.

Why I Created 360°

That's what inspired me to independently develop 360°, a physical educational card game designed to make unit-circle and trigonometry practice more interactive, collaborative, and engaging.

The unit circle requires students to become familiar with relationships between degrees, radians, angles, and trigonometric values. Building that familiarity takes repetition, but repetition doesn't have to feel repetitive.

360° turns that practice into play.

My goal isn't to replace classroom instruction. I want to give students another way to practice what they're already learning through gameplay, peer interaction, strategy, and friendly competition.

More importantly, I hope 360° can help create moments where students who may feel intimidated by math can participate, practice, make connections, and gradually become more confident in their ability to work with mathematical concepts.

That's what inspired me to independently develop 360°.

I began creating the game myself, developing the artwork, cards, rules, and gameplay and then bringing an early handmade version into classroom settings. What started as an idea for making practice more engaging has grown into a physical educational game that I'm now refining with feedback from students and educators.

360° has already been used in three classroom settings, ranging from small groups to classes of approximately 45 students. Those early experiences helped demonstrate that the game can be implemented in real classroom environments and gave me valuable insight into how students interact with it.

Now, I'm working to take 360° from a handmade prototype to a professionally manufactured educational game that teachers, students, tutors, and families can use.

How 360° Works

Players work with Degree Cards and Radian Cards, using their understanding of equivalent angles to make strategic plays and work toward getting rid of the cards in their hand.

But there's another layer: Challenger Cards.

Challenger Cards introduce friendly competition by allowing players to challenge one another to convert between degrees and radians, without relying on the Unit Circle Reference Sheet.

During regular gameplay, students can use the included Unit Circle Reference Sheet for support. As they become more familiar with the relationships between degrees and radians, they're encouraged to rely less on the reference and more on their own recall.

The result is a game that combines practice, repetition, strategy, and peer interaction around concepts students encounter in trigonometry and precalculus.

What's Included?

Each copy of 360° is being developed as a complete, ready-to-play learning experience. The planned game includes:

• A professionally printed 360° card deck, featuring Degree, Radian, and Challenger Cards
• A Unit Circle Reference Sheet to support students during gameplay
• Easy-to-follow game instructions
• Branded 360° packaging designed for storage and repeated use

360° is designed to be reusable and easy to bring into a classroom, tutoring session, study group, or home learning environment without requiring teachers or students to print, cut, or prepare their own materials.

Built for the Classroom and Beyond

360° was created with classroom engagement in mind, but its use doesn't have to stop there.

A single game supports 2–4 players, making it suitable for small-group classroom activities, tutoring, study groups, homeschool settings, or practice at home.

For educators who want multiple groups playing simultaneously, the 360° Classroom Set includes eight games and can support up to 32 students at a time.

Whether it's used as a classroom activity, review tool, or additional practice resource, the goal remains the same: give students another way to interact with important mathematical concepts through play.

From Prototype to Production

360° has already moved beyond the idea stage. I've developed a working prototype, created the gameplay and rules, and introduced the game in multiple classroom settings.

The next step is transforming that handmade prototype into a professionally manufactured product that can be consistently produced, packaged, and delivered to educators, students, families, and other supporters.

Feedback from educators and classroom experiences will continue to help shape the final version as 360° moves toward production.

Why Kickstarter?

Kickstarter gives me the opportunity to take 360° from a working prototype to its first professional production run while also building a community around the game.

360° brings a physical, hands-on element to mathematics practice. Instead of adding another worksheet or screen-based activity, the game gives students an opportunity to physically interact with curriculum concepts through cards, gameplay, peer interaction, strategy, and friendly competition. 

The goal is to complement classroom instruction with a reusable resource that makes practicing concepts such as degrees, radians, and equivalent angles more active and collaborative.

Your support will help fund the costs required to professionally manufacture and prepare 360° for backers. More importantly, a successful campaign will demonstrate that there is real demand for a physical, game-based approach to practicing unit-circle concepts.

Every pledge helps move 360° one step closer to becoming a resource that can reach more classrooms and students.

Where Your Support Goes

Funds raised through this campaign are planned to support:

• Professional card and packaging production
• Printing of game instructions and reference materials
• Manufacturing setup and initial production
• Packaging and fulfillment preparation
• Shipping supplies and related production expenses
• Sponsored classroom sets funded specifically through the Sponsor a Classroom option

The goal is bigger than producing a card game. I want to expand access to an engaging way of practicing mathematics and give more students opportunities to participate, collaborate, build familiarity with challenging concepts, and develop greater confidence in themselves as math learners.