Reaction and Memory: Five Skill Games That Show You Your Own Progress

Most games hide how well you are doing behind points and levels. Skill games are more direct. They test one ability, give you a plain number and invite you to do better next time. Here are five from our Skill Games and Educational categories, with a note on what each one measures.

Reaction time

Reflex Test waits a random moment, turns green, and times how long you take to respond, in milliseconds, averaged over five rounds. For most people a simple visual reaction falls somewhere around a fifth to a quarter of a second, and it varies with tiredness, time of day and the device in your hand. Compare yourself with yourself, on the same device.

Attention to detail

Odd Color shows a grid of tiles in which one is a slightly different shade. Each round the difference gets smaller. It is a test of looking rather than of speed: sweep the grid once, calmly, instead of darting about.

Sequence memory

Color Echo lights a pattern of pads that grows by one step each round. Saying the sequence under your breath, or grouping it into threes, usually adds a few rounds. Number Memory does the same with digits: a number flashes up, disappears, and comes back one digit longer each time you get it right. Splitting it into chunks, as you would a phone number, helps here too.

Timing

Precision Stop is about anticipation. The marker moves at a steady speed, so the skill is not reacting when it arrives but predicting when it will.

How to see real improvement

• Warm up. Ignore your first attempt; the second and third are a fairer picture.
• Keep the conditions the same. A mouse, a trackpad and a touch screen all respond differently.
• Play a little, often. A few rounds a day shows a clearer trend than one long session.
• Do not over-read a single score. These are games, not medical or professional tests. A bad day is just a bad day.