How the reaction time game works
The rules fit in one line: wait for green, then click. The panel starts red and turns green after a random wait of about 1.5 to 5 seconds. Click, tap or press Space the moment it changes. You get five tries, and your score is the average in milliseconds. Lower is better.
Click while the panel is still red and that try is cancelled and repeated. Jumping early gains you nothing, which keeps the game honest.
Game one: beat your own average
Your first opponent is yourself. Every finished round is saved in this browser. The result screen shows your personal best, and the Your scores panel shows your best, your running average and a chart of recent rounds.
Set a small target. Try to beat your last average by a few milliseconds, not to smash it.
Play a few rounds per sitting and treat the first as a warm-up. Stop when your averages start to climb, because that usually means your attention is fading.
Game two: challenge a friend on the same device
- Agree on the number of rounds, for example three each.
- Take turns on the same phone or computer.
- Write down each five-try average.
- The lowest single average wins. For a longer match, add up all the rounds.
Sharing one device matters. Screens and input devices typically add 20 to 50 ms to an online score, and the amount differs from one setup to the next. Two players on two phones are partly comparing phones.
Share your score
When a round ends, press Share score. Depending on your browser, it opens the share menu or copies a short message with your result and a link. Send it to a friend and ask them to beat it. Their device will not match yours exactly, so treat a remote challenge as a bit of fun and settle serious rivalries on one device.
What counts as a winning score
Most players land between 250 and 300 ms. An average under 230 ms is fast, and under 200 ms is exceptional. If a round comes in far below that, check that it was not built on one lucky try.
For a group version with teams and knockout rounds, see the reaction game page. To turn the game into regular practice, the reaction time trainer has a weekly routine.