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Reaction

Dots tick by; press the instant ● appears. The window shrinks every level, and some runs never bring the ● at all.

  • Attention and speed
  • Timed
  • 11 levels

How it plays

Watch the · tick past. When ● appears, press (Space, or the button) before it goes. Press early and it counts against you; some runs never show ● — not pressing is the right answer there.

The window to press in shrinks from 0.9 s toward 0.3 s, and catch runs become more common.

Keys

Space starts and skips ahead · 1–9 pick · Enter submits · Esc stops. On a phone, tap.

What it trains

This measures and practises a simple reaction to one signal. Reaction time varies with sleep, device and screen; the numbers are yours, on this device.

Learn

How to get better at reaction: the method, the techniques, what each new level asks of you, and the traps the wrong answers are made of.

Your approach to each question

  1. Before the run starts, put a finger on Space, or a thumb over the Now button, touching it lightly.
  2. Watch the spot where the dots tick, with your eyes still, and wait.
  3. Press the instant ● appears. It stays only for the window shown in the level; once it goes, the next · is on screen and a press then is a press on the wrong dot.
  4. If ● never comes, do nothing: the run ends by itself and not pressing is the right answer.

Techniques and tricks

  • Prepare, do not predict

    The ● comes after three to nine dots, drawn at random, so no rhythm can tell you when. Be ready on every dot, and let the ● itself set off the press.

  • Finger on the key, not above it

    A finger already touching the key only has to press. A finger hovering above it has to travel first, and that travel is time you lose.

  • React to the change, not the shape

    Do not wait to recognise a ●. Respond to the first sign that the small · has turned into something bigger and darker.

  • Relax between dots

    Hold the finger ready but loose. A tensed finger tires over a run and starts to twitch early.

As the levels climb

  • The window to press in shrinks from 900 ms to 750 at level 1, then 620, 520, 450, 400, 360, 330 and finally 300 ms at level 10, the last of eleven levels.
  • Catch runs, where ● never comes, start at level 2 (15% of runs) and rise to 25% at level 4. From then on you must be ready to press and ready not to, every run.
  • From level 6 the window is 450 ms or less, and a moment’s hesitation can use it up. The press must start from the ● appearing, with the finger already resting on the key.

Traps to avoid

  • The early press on the · just before ●, because you guessed it was due. That press counts against you even if you then hit the ●.
  • The late press, after ● has gone: it lands on the next dot and counts as a wrong press as well as a miss.
  • Pressing on a catch run because you were sure the ● was overdue. It never has to come.

How to practise

  • Play on the same device, with the same hand and posture, each time. The claim is honest about it: the numbers are yours on this device, and they change with the screen and keyboard.
  • Raise “Answers each judgement looks at” to 20: a single reaction is noisy, and more answers give a steadier verdict on whether you are ready to move up.
  • Turn off “A perfect, fast judgement skips a level” to settle at each new window before it shrinks again.

Levels

Each question has a clock that comes from the work it asks for. There are 11 levels with the default settings, and the counter stops at the real top. Your level is judged on your last ten answers, every ten: 90% moves you up, below 80% moves you down, which holds most people near four in five right.

All of it is in the settings beside Start — how many answers a judgement looks at and how often it recalibrates, the thresholds, the time, which questions, how many options, and whether you see each verdict at once or review them together at the judgement. You can also jump to any level.

More attention and speed

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