gamesblog

Digit span

Digits flash one at a time; type them back in order, in reverse, or sorted. One more each level, with no ceiling.

  • Memory
  • Timed
  • Endless levels

How it plays

Watch a run of digits appear one at a time, then type them back. Forward is the classic test; backward and sorted make you rearrange what you are holding, which is harder.

Every level adds a symbol or shortens how long each is shown. There is no top: most people hold about seven digits forward, and the ladder keeps going past whatever you manage.

Partial answers earn partial credit by position, so getting six of seven in place still counts for most of a block.

Keys

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

What it trains

Span practice improves span on this task. The research is clear that it does not carry over to general intelligence, so this page does not claim it does.

Learn

How to get better at digit span: 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. Say each symbol under your breath as it appears, and group as you go: every third one closes a group with a beat — “4 9 1 — 7 3”.
  2. Hold the run in the order shown, always. Reverse or sort it only at the end, once the last symbol has gone.
  3. Read the instruction — In order, Backwards or Sorted — then rearrange group by group, not symbol by symbol.
  4. Type straight away, saying each group as you type it. Every symbol in its right place earns credit, so get the order right before the speed.

Techniques and tricks

  • Chunk in threes

    Group the run in threes, like a phone number, with a beat between groups. Three groups of three are easier to hold than nine single symbols.

    e.g. 4 9 1 7 3 8 2 held as “491 — 738 — 2”.

  • Digit pairs as numbers

    With digits, two at a time can be one number: 4 9 is “forty-nine”. A run of eight is then four numbers — useful when threes run long.

    e.g. 4 9 1 7 3 8 as “forty-nine, seventeen, thirty-eight”.

  • Reverse by chunks

    For Backwards, reverse the order of the groups, then each group inside itself. You never have to turn the whole run round at once.

    e.g. 491 738 backwards: 837, then 194 — 8 3 7 1 9 4.

  • Tally for Sorted

    For Sorted, mark each digit on a number line from 0 to 9 as it comes, and count repeats — a digit can come back, just never twice in a row. Then read the line from 0 upwards.

    e.g. 5 2 5 9 sorts to 2 5 5 9.

  • Digits first, then letters

    With “Digits and consonants”, Sorted puts every digit before every letter, digits from small to large and letters in alphabet order. Hold the digits and the letters as two short lists.

    e.g. 7 K 2 B sorts to 2 7 B K.

  • Guess into the gap

    If you lose a symbol, type your best guess in its place rather than leaving it out. A missing symbol shifts every later one out of its place and loses all their credit.

    e.g. Wanting 4 9 1 7 and unsure of the 1: “4 9 5 7” keeps three places right; “4 9 7” keeps two.

As the levels climb

  • Levels alternate between one more symbol and a shorter flash: 1,000 ms each at first, then 850, 700, 600 and 500 ms. After that only the length grows, one a level, without end.
  • Shorter flashes leave less time to say each symbol. Say it as it appears, and close each group as its third symbol lands, not after.
  • Once the run is longer than one breath, keep a count of your groups — “three groups and one over”. Knowing how many you hold tells you at once when one has gone.
  • In Sorted, longer runs bring more repeats. The tally takes them in its stride; trying to sort in your head as you go does not.

Traps to avoid

  • Two symbols swapped inside a group: 4 1 9 for 4 9 1. The answer is marked by place, so a swap costs two. Say each group the same way every time you rehearse it.
  • An answer with the same symbol twice in a row, in order or backwards: the run never shows one twice running, so one of the pair is wrong.
  • Letters typed before digits in Sorted: digits always come first, whatever came first in the run.
  • Sorting or reversing while the run is still coming: a new symbol arrives and the half-turned list falls apart. Hold in order, rearrange at the end.

How to practise

  • With “Type them back”, start on “In order”, then “In reverse”, then “Sorted”. “A mix — read the instruction” tells you the task only after the run, so it rewards holding in order and rearranging at the end.
  • Change “Symbols” to “Consonants” or “Digits and consonants” once digits are easy: letters cannot be paired into numbers, so chunking has to do the work alone.
  • Set “Length at level 0” a little below your longest clean run, so the opening levels are warm-up rather than a struggle.

Levels

Each question has a clock that comes from the work it asks for. There is no last level: at least one dial turns without end. 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 memory

All games →