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For teachers

9 free astronomy games for middle and high school. Each one runs in the browser, fits in a class period and needs no accounts. Students play on play.orbitalrecord.com, where nothing tracks them.

Every game below has the same three parts: the standards it supports, a lesson outline and one discussion question per level. Links open the game on play.orbitalrecord.com.

Slingshot

Launch a probe through real Newtonian gravity. Seven short levels, one idea each. Pull back, watch the predicted path, let go.

  • Grades: 6-12.
  • Time: about 40 minutes.
  • Controls: Mouse, touch or keyboard (arrows aim, Space launches, R restarts, 1 to 7 pick a level).
  • Data: Transfer orbit uses the Earth to Mars size ratio from the NASA Mars Fact Sheet (nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov) and the 26-month launch cycle from NASA JPL. Other levels use made-up masses in real Newtonian gravity.
  • Link for students: play.orbitalrecord.com/games/slingshot

Standards (NGSS)

StandardWhat students doLevels
MS-ESS1-2Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
HS-PS2-4Use mathematical representations of Newton’s law of gravitation to describe and predict the gravitational forces between objects.1, 2
HS-ESS1-4Use mathematical or computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system.All

A 40-minute lesson

  1. Predict (5 minutes). Project level 1 for the class. Before anyone launches, ask: in which direction, and how fast? Take a vote.
  2. Play (25 minutes). Students work in pairs: one aims, the other records the launch speed and what happened. They swap at every level. Levels 6 and 7 take longer: in level 6 the recorder notes the month of each launch.
  3. Explain (10 minutes). Use the discussion questions. Ask pairs to support each answer with a launch they recorded.

Discussion questions

LevelThe ideaAsk
1. Stable orbitAn orbit is a fall that never lands.Why does the probe crash when it is too slow and fly off when it is too fast? What would the Moon do if it stopped moving sideways?
2. Escape velocityEscape speed is v = √(2GM/r).Would escape speed be higher or lower from a planet with the same mass but a smaller radius? Why?
3. Gravity assistA moving planet can lend a probe speed.Where does the extra speed come from, and what does the planet give up? Why did Voyager and Cassini use this trick?
4. Lagrange pointL4 and L5 are stable parking spots.Why do Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids gather 60 degrees ahead of and behind the planet?
5. Binary starFar from a pair of stars, they pull like one.Why is the path chaotic close to the two stars and calm far away? What does that mean for planets like Kepler-16b?
6. Transfer orbitMars launch windows come about every 26 months.Why can’t a spacecraft aim straight at where Mars is at launch? If a mission misses its window, why does it wait about 26 months instead of a year?
7. Equal areasAn orbiting body moves fastest closest to its star.The shaded wedges each took the same time. Why are they long and thin near the star and short and wide far away? Where does a comet move fastest?

Readings to pair with it

Moon Phases

Move the Moon around its orbit and watch what Earth sees. Six short levels, one idea each: from full and new Moon to why eclipses only come in seasons.

  • Grades: 6-12.
  • Time: about 30 minutes.
  • Controls: Mouse, touch or keyboard (arrows move the Moon, Shift + arrows take bigger steps, Space checks, R restarts, 1 to 6 pick a level).
  • Data: Orbit values from NASA: synodic month 29.53 days, sidereal month 27.32 days and orbit tilt 5.145 degrees (NSSDC Moon Fact Sheet); synodic and draconic months from the NASA Eclipse Web Site.
  • Link for students: play.orbitalrecord.com/games/moon-phases

Standards (NGSS)

StandardWhat students doLevels
MS-ESS1-1Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.All

A 35-minute lesson

  1. Predict (5 minutes). Ask the class to sketch the Sun, Earth and Moon at full Moon, and to explain why the Moon has phases. Collect the ideas, including "Earth's shadow covers it", without correcting yet.
  2. Play (20 minutes). Students work in pairs through the six levels. One moves the Moon, the other predicts aloud what Earth will see before the check; they swap at every level.
  3. Explain (10 minutes). Return to the sketches. Use the discussion questions, and ask pairs to use level 5 to show why phases are not caused by Earth's shadow.

Discussion questions

LevelThe ideaAsk
1. Full and newHalf the Moon is always lit by the Sun.If half of the Moon is always lit, why can we not see it at new Moon? Where is the lit half pointing?
2. QuartersA quarter Moon shows half a disk.Why is a Moon that looks half lit called a "quarter"? How can you tell first quarter from third quarter?
3. Waxing or waningFrom the Northern Hemisphere, lit on the right means growing.Which way does the lit side of the Moon always point? How would the same Moon look to a student in Australia?
4. Predict the phaseThe Sun-Earth-Moon angle decides the phase.The Moon orbits Earth in 27.3 days, but phases repeat every 29.5 days. Where do the extra two days come from?
5. EclipsesA lunar eclipse needs a full Moon; a solar eclipse needs a new Moon.Why can everyone on the night side of Earth see a lunar eclipse, while a total solar eclipse is seen only along a narrow path?
6. Why not every monthThe 5 degree tilt makes eclipses come in seasons.There is a new Moon every month. Why do most of them not cause a solar eclipse, and why do eclipse seasons come about six months apart?

Readings to pair with it

Stellar Forge

Pick a mass, forge a star and watch billions of years pass in seconds. Six short challenges show why mass decides how a star lives and how it dies.

  • Grades: 6-12.
  • Time: about 30 minutes.
  • Controls: Mouse, touch or keyboard (arrows change the mass, Enter forges, S skips the time-lapse, R restarts, 1 to 6 pick a level).
  • Data: Main-sequence luminosity and radius from the fitting formulae of Tout et al. 1996 (MNRAS 281, 257); lifetimes from Hurley, Pols and Tout 2000 (MNRAS 315, 543) and, for the smallest red dwarfs, Laughlin, Bodenheimer and Adams 1997 (ApJ 482, 420); fate mass ranges from NASA and the Chandra X-ray Center. Solar metallicity. The path after the main sequence is drawn schematically.
  • Link for students: play.orbitalrecord.com/games/stellar-forge

Standards (NGSS)

StandardWhat students doLevels
HS-ESS1-1Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the life span of the sun and the role of nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to release energy that eventually reaches Earth in the form of radiation.1, 2
HS-ESS1-3Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements.3, 4, 6

A 30-minute lesson

  1. Predict (5 minutes). Show level 1. Ask: will a star ten times heavier than the Sun live ten times longer, or shorter? Take a vote before anyone forges.
  2. Play (15 minutes). Pairs play levels 1 to 6. One moves the slider, the other records mass, lifetime and fate in a table. They swap at every level.
  3. Explain (10 minutes). Pairs sort their table by mass and look for patterns in lifetime and fate, then answer the discussion questions using their data.

Discussion questions

LevelThe ideaAsk
1. A star like the SunA Sun-like star ends as a white dwarf.The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old. Roughly how far through its main-sequence life is it, and what will it become?
2. The longest lifeThe smallest stars live longest, longer than the universe has existed.Why does a star with less fuel last longer? Why can no red dwarf have died yet?
3. SupernovaStars above about 8 solar masses explode and leave neutron stars.Why does fusion stop at iron, and why does that make the core collapse?
4. Black holeAround 20 solar masses or more, the core becomes a black hole.Why do astronomers say the boundary between neutron stars and black holes is uncertain?
5. Read the diagramOn the main sequence, mass sets temperature and brightness.If you see a hot blue star and a cool red star on the main sequence, which one will die first, and why?
6. Element factoryStars forge elements up to iron; heavier ones need neutron capture.The iron in your blood and the gold in a ring were made in different places. Where, and how do we know?

Readings to pair with it

Planet Hunter

Find planets the way Kepler and TESS do: in the light of their stars. Six short levels, one idea each, built from the published values of real planets.

  • Grades: 6-12.
  • Time: about 35 minutes.
  • Controls: Mouse, touch or keyboard (arrows move the cursor or the slider, Space marks a dip, Enter checks, T switches planet, R restarts).
  • Data: Light curves simulated from published parameters in the NASA Exoplanet Archive (HD 209458 b, Kepler-7 b, Kepler-22 b, Kepler-10 b, TRAPPIST-1 b and c, Kepler-6 b) and in Doyle et al. 2011 (the Kepler-16 binary), with added random noise. No real photometry is embedded.
  • Link for students: play.orbitalrecord.com/games/planet-hunter

Standards (NGSS)

StandardWhat students doLevels
SEP 4 (6-8)Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings.5, 6
SEP 4 (9-12)Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.All
SEP 5 (9-12)Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking: Use mathematical or computational representations of phenomena to describe explanations.2, 3, 4

A 35-minute lesson

  1. Predict (5 minutes). Project level 1. Ask: if a planet passes in front of a star, what happens to the light we receive? Sketch the predicted graph together before playing.
  2. Play (20 minutes). Students work in pairs through the six levels. One controls the game, the other writes down each period and planet size they find. They swap after level 3.
  3. Explain (10 minutes). Use the discussion questions. Ask pairs to compare their measured periods and sizes with the catalog values the game reveals, and to explain any difference.

Discussion questions

LevelThe ideaAsk
1. Spot the dipA planet crossing its star blocks some of its light.Why does the star dim for only a few hours and not for the whole orbit? What would we see if the orbit were tilted a little more?
2. Measure the periodDips repeat once per orbit.Why is it better to measure across four dips than between two neighbors? How long would you need to watch a star to confirm a planet with a one-year orbit?
3. How big is it?Depth ≈ (planet radius / star radius)².The same planet circles a star half as wide. How much deeper is the dip? Why are Earth-size planets easier to find around small stars?
4. Find it in the noiseFolding stacks many faint dips into one clear one.Why does stacking 24 orbits make the dip stand out? Why does a period twice the true one also show dips?
5. Two planetsEach planet keeps its own beat.How did you decide which dips belong together? What would happen to the light curve if two planets crossed the star at the same time?
6. ImpostorsTwo stars eclipsing each other can fake a planet.Which clue gave away each binary? Why do astronomers still confirm transit planets with other methods, such as measuring the star’s wobble?

Readings to pair with it

Goldilocks

Too hot, too cold or just right? Place planets where liquid water could last, using the habitable zone model astronomers use, then test it on real exoplanets.

  • Grades: 6-12.
  • Time: about 30 minutes.
  • Controls: Mouse, touch or keyboard (Left and Right arrows move, Space places, H, Z and C sort planets, R restarts).
  • Data: Habitable zone limits from Kopparapu et al. (2013, 2014); star and planet values from the NASA Exoplanet Archive (Planetary Systems Composite Parameters, October 2026); Solar System values from the NASA planetary fact sheets; typical stars from Mamajek’s dwarf star sequence (Pecaut and Mamajek 2013); the Sun’s brightening from Gough (1981).
  • Link for students: play.orbitalrecord.com/games/goldilocks

Standards (NGSS)

StandardWhat students doLevels
HS-ESS1-1Develop a model based on evidence to illustrate the life span of the sun and the role of nuclear fusion in the sun’s core to release energy that eventually reaches Earth in the form of radiation.3, 5 (life span and brightening only)
MS-ESS1-3Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.1, 5 (orbital radius only)

A 30-minute lesson

  1. Predict (5 minutes). Ask the class: if a star were ten times dimmer than the Sun, would its planets need to be closer or farther away to stay warm? Take a vote, then play level 1 together.
  2. Play (15 minutes). Students work in pairs through levels 2 to 5. At level 4 they write down each planet’s starlight before sorting it, then compare with the answer.
  3. Explain (10 minutes). Use the discussion questions. End with the difference between “in the habitable zone” and “habitable”: list what else a planet needs.

Discussion questions

LevelThe ideaAsk
1. The SunLiquid water needs just enough starlight.Mars is inside the Sun’s habitable zone, so why is its surface frozen and dry? What else does a planet need besides the right amount of starlight?
2. Red dwarfA dim star has a small, close-in zone.Proxima b orbits far closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun, yet it could be temperate. Why? What problems come with orbiting that close?
3. Choose the starBrighter stars push the zone out, but die young.A hot F star can warm a planet at 2.5 AU, but it lives only a few billion years. Would you rather look for life around a hot star or a cool one? Why?
4. Real exoplanetsReal planets: too hot, just right or too cold?Kepler-186 f gets less than a third of Earth’s starlight but is still in the zone. How can the color of a star change where the zone sits?
5. The Sun’s futureThe Sun brightens, and the zone moves out.If the Sun keeps brightening, which planet or moon could become warmer and wetter in the far future? What would it still be missing?

Readings to pair with it

Scale Run

Zoom from Earth to the edge of the observable universe in six steps. Size the ring to your best guess, lock it in, and see how many powers of ten you were off.

  • Grades: 6-12.
  • Time: about 30 minutes.
  • Controls: Mouse, touch or keyboard (drag or scroll to resize your guess, Left and Right arrows fine-tune, Enter locks in, R restarts).
  • Data: NASA planetary fact sheets and Voyager mission updates; IAU 2012 definition of the astronomical unit; ESA Gaia DR3 (Proxima Centauri); Joyce et al. 2020 (Betelgeuse); GRAVITY Collaboration 2021 (Galactic Center); Pietrzynski et al. 2019 (Large Magellanic Cloud); Mei et al. 2007 (Virgo Cluster); Tully et al. 2014 (Laniakea); Planck 2018 cosmological parameters (age and observable universe).
  • Link for students: play.orbitalrecord.com/games/scale-run

Standards (NGSS)

StandardWhat students doLevels
MS-ESS1-3Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.1, 2, 3

A 30-minute lesson

  1. Predict (5 minutes). Before playing, ask each student to write down how far the Moon is and how long sunlight takes to reach us. Keep the papers.
  2. Play (15 minutes). Students play alone or in pairs. Ask them to note their worst miss in each level and the factor they were off by.
  3. Explain (10 minutes). Compare the predictions with the answers. Use the discussion questions, and ask why "off by 2 times" matters less at the edge of the universe than at the Moon.

Discussion questions

LevelThe ideaAsk
1. Earth and MoonThe Moon is small and far: 30 Earths away.Do all the other planets really fit between Earth and the Moon? Use the numbers on the map to decide, and explain why the answer depends on the date.
2. The Solar SystemLight-travel time is a ruler: 8.3 minutes to the Sun.If the Sun were a beach ball 30 cm wide, how big would Earth be and how far away? What does that say about drawings of the solar system in textbooks?
3. To the starsThe nearest star is 1,500 times farther than our farthest probe.Voyager 1 needed almost 50 years to reach one light-day. How long would it need to reach Proxima Centauri at the same speed?
4. The Milky WayWe live 27,000 light-years from the center of a 100,000 light-year disk.When the light we see from the Galactic Center left, what were people on Earth doing? What about light from Betelgeuse?
5. Galaxies and LaniakeaGalaxies gather in clusters, and clusters in superclusters.Each answer in this level was 10 to 20 times bigger than the one before. Why does a log scale make these steps look the same size?
6. The edgeExpansion makes the edge 46 billion light-years away, not 13.8.How can light that traveled 13.8 billion years come from something 46 billion light-years away now? Does anything move faster than light?

Readings to pair with it

Cosmic Timeline

From the first fraction of a second to a googol years from now. Put events in order, then place them on a logarithmic axis and on a one-year cosmic calendar. Every date is a real measurement, and the uncertain ones are ranges.

  • Grades: 6-12.
  • Time: about 35 minutes.
  • Controls: Mouse, touch or keyboard (Tab to a card, Enter to pick it up, arrows to move it, Enter to drop, Escape to cancel; R restarts, 1 to 5 pick a round).
  • Data: Dates from peer-reviewed papers and agencies: Planck 2018 (age of the universe, 13.787 billion years), Particle Data Group reviews, ESA, the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart (v2024/12), Connelly et al. 2012, Barboni et al. 2017, Djokic et al. 2017, Poulton et al. 2021, Richter et al. and Hublin et al. 2017, Bromm 2013, Carniani et al. 2024, Schröder and Smith 2008, Sawala et al. 2025, Laughlin, Bodenheimer and Adams 1997, Adams and Laughlin 1997, Page 1976 and Super-Kamiokande 2020. Each card names its source.
  • Link for students: play.orbitalrecord.com/games/cosmic-timeline

Standards (NGSS)

StandardWhat students doLevels
HS-ESS1-2Construct an explanation of the Big Bang theory based on astronomical evidence of light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, and composition of matter in the universe.2, 3
MS-ESS1-4Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history.1, 4
HS-ESS1-6Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history.1

A 35-minute lesson

  1. Predict (5 minutes). Before playing, ask the class to guess: what fraction of the universe’s age has passed since the dinosaurs died? Write the guesses down.
  2. Play (20 minutes). Pairs play rounds 1 to 4 (round 5 for older students). After each round they read two revealed cards aloud and name the evidence behind the date.
  3. Explain (10 minutes). Compare the guesses with the cosmic calendar (dinosaurs vanish on December 30). Use the discussion questions, and contrast the log axis with the calendar.

Discussion questions

LevelThe ideaAsk
1. Our neighborhoodEarth’s story runs from the birth of the Sun 4.567 billion years ago to our species, about 300,000 years old.Which events are dated with meteorites, Moon rocks or fossils? Why can we date the Sun’s birth more precisely than the Moon’s?
2. The early universeThe universe built its ingredients in stages: nuclei in minutes, atoms after 380,000 years, stars after about 100 million.Which leftovers of these stages can we still observe today, and how do they support the Big Bang theory?
3. Place it on the axisOn a logarithmic axis each step is ten times longer, so seconds and billions of years fit on one line.On a log axis, why do the first three minutes take up more room than the last 13 billion years? When is a log scale useful, and when does it mislead?
4. The cosmic calendarSqueezed into one year, the Sun forms in September and humans appear minutes before midnight on December 31.If the universe’s history were one year, how long would a human life last? What does that suggest about how recent we are?
5. The far futureStars, dead stars and black holes each rule a longer era; we live near the start of the age of stars.Which predictions in this round rest on physics we have tested, and which on physics nobody has observed, like proton decay or Hawking radiation?

Readings to pair with it

Redshift Lab

Work like Lemaître and Hubble. Read the fingerprints of hydrogen, measure how far real galaxies have stretched their light, fit the Hubble constant and run the expansion backward.

  • Grades: 6-12.
  • Time: about 35 minutes.
  • Controls: Mouse, touch or keyboard (Left and Right slide or choose, Up and Down tilt the line, Space or Enter locks in, R restarts).
  • Data: Rest wavelengths: NIST Atomic Spectra Database 5.12 (air). Redshifts: NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED). Distances and velocities of the six maser galaxies: Pesce et al. 2020, ApJL 891, L1 (Megamaser Cosmology Project). H₀ and age: Planck 2018 (A&A 641, A6) and SH0ES (Riess et al. 2022, ApJL 934, L7). Spectra are drawn by the game at the catalog redshifts; line strengths are illustrative.
  • Link for students: play.orbitalrecord.com/games/redshift-lab

Standards (NGSS)

StandardWhat students doLevels
HS-ESS1-2Construct an explanation of the Big Bang theory based on astronomical evidence of light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, and composition of matter in the universe.All

A 35-minute lesson

  1. Predict (5 minutes). Show the spectrum of level 1. Ask: if a galaxy moves away from us, which way should its lines move, toward the blue or the red? Take a vote.
  2. Play (20 minutes). Pairs play levels 1 to 5. One student drives, the other records z, v and the final H₀ and age. They swap at every level.
  3. Explain (10 minutes). Compare the class values of H₀ on the board. Use the discussion questions, then connect the result to the Big Bang: spectra, receding galaxies and a hydrogen and helium universe.

Discussion questions

LevelThe ideaAsk
1. Lab spectrumEvery element has a fingerprint of spectral lines.How can astronomers tell that a galaxy millions of light-years away contains hydrogen? Why is it useful that hydrogen and helium make different patterns?
2. Measure a redshiftLight from a receding galaxy is stretched: z = Δλ / λ.Why do the lines at long wavelengths shift by more nanometers than the lines at short wavelengths, if the galaxy has a single speed?
3. Blue or redNearby galaxies can approach (blueshift); distant ones recede.Andromeda is coming toward us. Does that disprove the expanding universe? What changes for galaxies much farther away?
4. Hubble diagramRecession velocity grows with distance: v = H₀ d.Why don’t the six points sit exactly on the line? What could push a galaxy slightly above or below it?
5. Age of the universeRun the expansion backward: 1/H₀ is about the age of the universe.If the Hubble constant were larger, would the universe be older or younger? Why does the 67 versus 73 disagreement matter?

Readings to pair with it

Orbit Quiz

Ten questions a week, the same for everyone, new every Monday. Then five topic rounds you can play any time. Every answer links to the page that explains it.

  • Grades: 6-12.
  • Time: about 25 minutes.
  • Controls: Mouse, touch or keyboard (A to D or 1 to 4 answer, Enter goes on, R restarts the round).
  • Data: Every question cites the page of The Orbital Record that answers it; those pages cite the primary sources (NASA, ESA, ESO, observatories and peer-reviewed papers).
  • Link for students: play.orbitalrecord.com/games/orbit-quiz

Standards (NGSS)

StandardWhat students doLevels
HS-ESS1-2Construct an explanation of the Big Bang theory based on astronomical evidence of light spectra, motion of distant galaxies, and composition of matter in the universe.5 (review of the evidence, not the full practice)
HS-ESS1-3Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements.2 (review of the ideas, not the full practice)

A 25-minute lesson

  1. Warm up (8 minutes). Students play this week’s quiz on their own. Everyone gets the same ten questions, so results can be compared.
  2. Discuss (7 minutes). Project the hardest question. Ask who chose each option and why, then open the linked page and read the answer together.
  3. Go deeper (10 minutes). Pairs play the topic round that matches your unit. For one question they missed, they write the evidence behind the right answer in their own words.

Discussion questions

LevelThe ideaAsk
1. Solar SystemPlanets, moons and small worlds are still surprising us.Io is heated by tides from Jupiter, and the same process keeps oceans liquid inside Europa and Ganymede. Why does that make icy moons a place to look for life?
2. StarsStars shine by fusion and make the elements when they live and die.Pick one element in your body. Which kind of star, or which stellar death, made it, and how do astronomers know?
3. ExoplanetsThousands of planets circle other stars, found by transits, wobbles and direct images.Why is a big planet close to its star easier to find than an Earth-size planet far from its star? Which method would you use for each?
4. Black holesBlack holes are found by what they do to light, stars and spacetime.Nothing escapes a black hole, so how can anyone see one? Name three kinds of evidence and the instrument behind each.
5. CosmologyThe universe began hot and dense, is expanding, and is mostly dark matter and dark energy.What are the main pieces of evidence for the Big Bang? Which one would convince you most, and why?
6. This weekA mixed set from every topic, weighted toward the latest discoveries.Which fact in this week’s set surprised the class most? What would scientists have to measure to check it, and with what instrument?

Readings to pair with it

Questions students ask

For a class discussion or a quick answer during a lesson, Big questions about space collects every question we answer, grouped by topic, each with a short answer and a link to the full, sourced guide.

Student privacy

The games live on their own address, play.orbitalrecord.com, built for students:

  • No accounts, no ads, no newsletter sign-up and no cookies.
  • No session recording. Microsoft Clarity, which the main site loads only with a visitor’s consent, never loads on the games.
  • Best scores are saved in the browser on that device only, and never sent to us.
  • We count page loads and completed levels. Each page load is counted on its own, with the browser type, screen size and the approximate location our host derives from the network. No IP address and no identifier is stored, so two visits cannot be linked to each other or to a student.

If your school filters websites, ask IT to allow play.orbitalrecord.com for the games and www.orbitalrecord.com for the readings. Full details are in the privacy policy.