Ace
How it works: pick a study set in Ace and tap Invite. Your friend joins, and you take alternating turns answering four-option questions built from your material. Each turn has a 15-second clock, faster correct answers earn more points, both phones show the right answer after every turn, and Ace declares a winner.
Why study with a friend?
Studying alone is easy to put off. Studying with someone is a plan you made with a person — and that's a lot harder to cancel. A duel adds three things solo revision lacks:
- Pressure in small doses. A 15-second clock is close enough to exam conditions to train quick recall, without feeling like a mock exam.
- Twice the questions. You learn from your friend's turns too: you see their question, their pick and the correct answer.
- A reason to open the app. Revision you would actually do on a Friday.
A duel, turn by turn
- Choose a set and tap Invite. Pick a friend you have already added, or share an invite code.
- The clock waits for both of you. The game sits in a lobby until your friend joins, so nobody loses turns while the other is still opening the app. An unanswered invite expires after 15 minutes.
- Take turns. One player answers while the other watches the same question. You have 15 seconds.
- Learn from it. After each answer, both phones show the result for three seconds — "Great job!" on a correct answer, the right option when someone misses.
- See who wins. Points go to correct answers, with a bonus for speed. At the end Ace names the winner — or calls a draw.
Fair by design
A game is only fun if nobody can cheat it. Ace's servers — not the phones — decide whether an answer is right and how long it took. The clock is set by the server too, so backgrounding the app doesn't buy extra time, and two phones can't both claim the same turn.
Adding friends
Every Ace account can share a personal invite code that looks like ACE-7KQ4-M2XP. Codes are hard to guess, expire, and have a use limit — so a code pasted into a big group chat doesn't stay open forever. Your friend redeems it in the app and you're connected.
Plan your sessions
Use the Ace calendar to book a 30, 45 or 60-minute study session and invite your friend to it. If they’ve connected Google Calendar, it shows up there too. Short, regular sessions spread across the term are far more effective than one long cram — here's why.
Ideas for using duels
Study partners
Same course, same slides. Duel on this week's lecture every Sunday night.
The night-before check
Not to learn it — to find the gaps while there's still time to fix them.
Long-distance study
Different cities, same exam. The duel works anywhere you both have signal.
Parents & kids
Upload the textbook chapter and let the app ask the questions you'd never think of.
Questions about duels
How many people can play a duel?
Duels are two-player: you and one friend. For a bigger group, run several duels on the same study set.
Does my friend need their own subscription?
Your friend needs the Ace app and an account to join. Uploading material and creating sets is part of Ace Premium; check the pricing page for the current plans and free trial.
What happens if the 15 seconds run out?
The turn ends with no points, the correct answer is shown on both phones, and play passes to the other player.
Do we both need to upload the material?
No. The person who sends the invite chooses the study set, and both players get the same questions from it.