How it works
This number sequence memory game shows a number, hides it, and asks you to type it back. Each right answer adds a digit, from 1 up to 30, and the first wrong answer ends the run. As a number memory test it gives one figure, the longest number you typed back right.
Read the full guide
How the numbers grow
Press Start and a one-digit number appears. A number of n digits stays up for 1,200 ms plus 600 ms a digit, so seven digits get 5,400 ms. Type it (the last digit ends the turn), then press Next number. Spaces are ignored, so 471 930 counts as 471930. In the Round menu, Forward digits from 5 and Forward digits from 10 skip the short numbers.
Where seven, plus or minus two comes from
It is the title of a 1956 paper by George A. Miller in Psychological Review. He observed that young adults could repeat back about seven items, and argued that the limit counts chunks, not digits: 1945 is one chunk to anyone who knows the year. Later work found the span shifts with the material, and Cowan put it nearer four chunks. So read 471930528 as 471, 930, 528.
- Rest your fingers on the number keys while the number is up, and type the instant it hides.
- An 8-digit number holds a double digit 52% of the time. Find the 77 or the 00 first and hang the rest on it.
- You type the first chunk straight away, so read 471 once and spend the rest of the look looping 930 528.
Questions and answers
How many digits should I be able to remember?
There is no number you should reach. The famous seven comes from George Miller's 1956 paper, and it is no target here. A typical span test presents each item once, at one a second. This game shows the whole number at once, so you can group and study it. The two are not like for like. This page has no average of its own to print. Chase your own best in one round.
How long does each number stay on screen?
The three forward rounds give ten digits 7,200 ms and thirty digits 19,200 ms. Quick-look digits gives ten digits 2,500 ms, Flat-look digits 4,000 ms and Long-look digits 12,000 ms. A line under the number counts the seconds down.
Can a number memory test tell me if my memory is failing?
No. How many digits you type back depends on your technique, how awake you are, the device in your hands and luck with the numbers dealt. It is a game result, not a clinical measure, and it cannot pick up or exclude any illness. Worries about memory belong with a doctor.