We had a little game cabinet growing up and inside sat a small copy of Hoyle’s Card Game Rules full of ways to play numerous games with a standard deck of cards. It was a cheap an easy way to stay entertained. There are a lot of other game, activity, and puzzle books online for free. In fact, if your library has a Hoopla subscription, you have access to so many game books! If not, it’s still a very inexpensive way to access a vast collection of activity and game books.
Whether you’re a classroom teacher or homeschooler, both want fun a creative ways to educate without breaking the bank. So online activity books help fill this need.
- How to access game books online
- Puzzles, Riddles, and Brainteaser ebooks
- Mathematical Puzzles and Curiosities
- Mind-boggling Word Puzzles
- Lateral Thinking
- Matchstick Puzzles
- 101 Amazing Brainteasers
- Puzzles Games and Tricks
- Can you Solve My Problems?
- Perplexing Picture Puzzles
- Ocean Puzzles + Brain Game Treasure Hunts Series
- Puzzles and Paradoxes
- Origami and other Activity ebooks
- Amazing Origami Gifts + Series
- Awesome LEGO creations with bricks you already have + SERIES
- Earth Friendly Math Crafts
- Origami Arts and Crafts
- Board Game Guidebooks
- Hoyle’s Games Modernized
- The Mathematics of Games
- Card Games Properly Explained
- The Modern Nerd’s Guide to Tabletop and Card Games
- The Pocket Guide to Dice and Dice Games
- Games Are Fun
- Cracking the Cube
- Sudoku, Crosswords, and other number and word games
- The Original Area Mazes
- Cross Number Puzzle
- The Pocket Book of Frame Games
- Mystifying Mathematical Puzzles
- Books full of indoor and outdoor games for children
- 101 Games to Play Before You Grow Up
- Children’s Games Around the World
- Cool Board Games [to make]
- Game Logic
- Indoor Vintage Games for Children
- More Resources

How to access game books online
Need to know how to play without a big budget? Here are the best puzzle books online via Hoopla and other online resources.
Where to find riddles, activity books, and brainteasers
Some, but not all of the links below are affiliate links. This means we earn from qualifying purchases.
- Amazon – try a free 30-day trial on Audible
- ThriftBooks.com
- Hoopla – we get a few free from our local library + we have a plan for fifty per month
- Overdrive – we also get some free books via our library
- Your Local Library – a bit redundant here, but maybe yours has other options.
- eBay – a great place to buy used books, CDs, and more
A few notes:
- This list has ebooks and audiobooks included.
- Please understand some books go in multiple categories, but we tried to split them up in a way that best suits them.
- If you have a great game resource book, let us know! You can comment on this post or email checkmate@boardgamesforlearning.com so we can consider adding it to our list.
- We have no affiliation with Hoopla – our family simply uses and loves their service. Any Amazon buttons are affiliate links and we earn from qualifying purchases.
- If listening to audiobooks, we highly recommend the speaker below:
Puzzles, Riddles, and Brainteaser ebooks
Origami and other Activity ebooks
We have found that Origami challenges our children to persevere and also adjust their expectations. So often our girls will think that doing a certain origami creation will be easy, only to find it much harder than expected. Therefore, we love doing game-like activities such as origami as a joint way to creatively learn and have fun.
Want more idea on how to save money on games? Never pay full price for board games again!
Board Game Guidebooks
Sometimes the best way to learn through play is to read more about the game mechanics and strategy behind a board game such as Chess, Go, or even the Rubik’s cube!
Sudoku, Crosswords, and other number and word games
We started teaching our kids sudoku at around the age of 3 and they all love it. It’s a great way to introduce some logic and reasoning with a 3×3 grid. In fact, read more about how to teach children sudoku here.
Books full of indoor and outdoor games for children
More Resources

The very best Audiobooks for home and classroom

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I also enjoy some of the Print and Play options to keep price down.