Playing Super Solvers: OutNumbered! meant balancing high-speed hall-dodging with pop-quiz arithmetic, wrapped up in classical sheet music and a tight midnight deadline.

Educational software in 1990 usually felt like a digital textbook with a basic scoring wrapper, but The Learning Company, Inc. built something much punchier. By taking the side-scrolling engine from Super Solvers: Midnight Rescue! and dropping it into a broadcast building, lead programmer Darrell Fetzer and graphic designer Collette Michaud made math feel like a stealth mission. You step into the trench coat and low-slung hat of the unnamed Super Solver to rescue the Shady Glen TV Station from Morty Maxwell, better known as the Master of Mischief.

The twitchy halls of Super Solvers: OutNumbered!

You spend your time creeping down side-scrolling hallways and ducking inside TV station rooms to inspect set pieces. Search three distinct locations inside a room, solve the math word problems hiding there, and you unlock the station room code. Meanwhile, Morty's TV-headed robot, Telly, patrols the corridors outside with zero regard for young players' nervous systems.

Super Solver standing in a hallway near Telly the robot — Telly patrols the hallways, forcing you to time your remote zapper shots carefully.

Telly hurls spinning discs, lightning bolts, sound waves, and energy stars while trying to run you over. You can duck or jump to avoid his projectile attacks, but to fight back you need to fire your remote control zapper straight at his screen when it flashes red. Nailing Telly opens a fast arithmetic problem; solve it, and you get a clue describing the room where Morty is hiding.

Once you collect four clues, you compare their traits against the room codes you recorded to deduce Morty's exact hiding spot before the clock strikes midnight. Making your accusation in the right room drives him out and earns you a promotion to higher player ranks.

High pressure math problems meet twitch controls

While reviewers at the time praised the game for making daily math drills entertaining, period-accurate frustration remains totally valid. The game throws genuine difficulty spikes at players, demanding quick reflexes when Telly cornered you in sticky corridor matchups.

The core gameplay loop requires juggling distinct skill sets:

Ducking projectile attacks while watching Telly's belly screen for the red prompt.
Solving timed word problems across three hidden spots per room to secure room attributes.
Using the built-in basic calculator when arithmetic steps outpace mental scratchpads.
Cross-referencing room traits against four robot clues to pinpoint Morty before time runs out.

If you fail the final deduction or let the clock hit midnight, Morty takes the station and you get sent back to square one. Higher ranks alter match rules, speed up Telly, and force faster calculation under tight margins.

A math word problem screen inside a TV station room — Room puzzles force you to pause the platforming action and work through word problems.

Classical sound design on the MS-DOS speaker

Audio composer Paul Webb put together one of the most recognizable soundtracks of the DOS era using famous classical pieces. The main title screen features a drive through Bach's Prelude in C minor (BWV 999), setting an unexpectedly tense mood for a 1990 educational release.

Inside room puzzles, the game plays Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Paganini (24th Caprice). Hearing these complex arrangements push through either an early Sound Blaster board or a raw PC speaker gave the TV station setting a stylish, dramatic edge that stuck with everyone who played it.

Why you should play Super Solvers: OutNumbered! online today

The lateral puzzle deduction and hallway action keep this classic adventure surprisingly sharp. Even if you can crunch simple word problems in your sleep today, managing Telly's attack patterns while running room codes down to the wire delivers solid tension.

You can play Super Solvers: OutNumbered! online free in your browser right now with no setup needed. Jump straight into the Shady Glen TV station, test your reflexes against Telly, and see if you can track down Morty before midnight.

How Super Solvers: OutNumbered! is played — the keys the game listens to, grouped by what they do.

Movement
Action
Interface

Highlighted keys are mapped — hover or tap one to see what it does.

The zapper requires energy and must be recharged at a Recharge Machine using the Up key. The game features math and numerical problem solving.

Players' controls

Touch and gamepad controls

The on-screen keyboard and gamepad mapping the browser player uses on a phone, a tablet or a controller, as opposed to the real keys above. $PRO members make their own in the player and share them here; anyone can pick one to play with.

Make your own touch controlsPRO

1Open the editorSign in below, then pick what to make. The game starts with the editor open over it.
2Place your keysAdd keys and drag them where your thumbs rest, or map a controller's buttons. Test plays the game with them; Save keeps them, and you play with them from then on.
3Share themShare them right after saving in the game, or name and share them here. Players vote, and the best become this game's controls for everyone.

Go PRO See how it works Sign in+20 XP for sharing · +50 XP if yours become the game's own

Choose what you play with. Use picks it, and the game starts with it next time.