Difficulty Levels & Progression
Times tables aren't all equally difficult. Based on educational research and how schools teach multiplication, we've grouped all 32 times tables into 5 difficulty tiers.
5 Difficulty Tiers
Easy
5 tablesWhen it's taught: These are the first times tables taught in schools worldwide (UK Year 2, US Grade 2-3). They have strong patterns that make them easy to remember.
Why this difficulty: 1× is identity (anything × 1 = itself). 2× is doubling. 5× always ends in 0 or 5. 10× just adds a zero. 11× repeats the digit up to 9.
Medium
6 tablesWhen it's taught: Typically taught in Years 3-4 (UK) or Grades 3-4 (US). These tables have useful patterns but require more practice.
Why this difficulty: 3× has a digit-sum pattern. 4× is double-double. 9× has the famous digit-sum-equals-9 trick. 20×, 25×, 30× leverage base-10 patterns (doubling 10×, quarter of 100, tripling 10×).
Hard
5 tablesWhen it's taught: The last core tables taught in primary school (UK Year 4, US Grade 4). Research shows these are the hardest of the 1-12 range.
Why this difficulty: 6×, 7×, 8× lack obvious patterns and have larger products. 7×8=56 is statistically the hardest multiplication fact for children. 12× and 15× have some decomposition strategies but produce large numbers.
Very Hard
7 tablesWhen it's taught: Beyond standard primary curricula. These tables aren't typically required in school but build advanced multiplication fluency.
Why this difficulty: Some decomposition is possible (14=2×7, 16=2×8, 18=2×9) but the products are large and patterns are weak. 21=3×7, 24=3×8, 27=3×9.
Expert
9 tablesWhen it's taught: Well beyond standard curricula. These are for dedicated mathletes who want the ultimate challenge.
Why this difficulty: Many are prime numbers (17, 19, 23, 29, 31) with no factor shortcuts. Others (22, 26, 28, 32) have possible but non-obvious decompositions. Large products increase cognitive load significantly.
8 Rank Levels
As you master more times tables and play more games, you climb through 8 rank tiers. Each tier has 3 sub-levels (I, II, III), giving you 24 levels in total.
Bronze
Level 1-3
Silver
Level 4-6
Gold
Level 7-9
Platinum
Level 10-12
Emerald
Level 13-15
Diamond
Level 16-18
Master
Level 19-21
Mythic
Level 22-24
How Progression Works
- Start at Bronze I — just play your first game!
- Master Easy tables first — Silver requires 70%+ accuracy on Easy tables.
- Progress through Medium and Hard — Gold and Platinum require deeper mastery.
- Quality matters — only games with 75%+ accuracy count toward progression.
- Each tier requires more tables mastered at higher accuracy — and more games played.
- Mythic is the ultimate goal — requires 95%+ accuracy on ALL tables from 1× to 32× with 25+ attempts each.