Reaction Time Test
Tap the moment the screen turns green
How to play
This is a free online reaction time test: wait for the screen to turn green, then tap, click or press Space as fast as you can. Five rounds give your average in milliseconds, with your best round, a personal best and a daily board. It runs in any browser on a phone or a computer, and inside Telegram through @MatsuriGamesBot, with no download or sign-up.
A simple reaction time test. Tap the screen, click or press Space to begin, then wait: after a random pause of one and a half to four and a half seconds the screen turns green, and you tap as fast as you can. The time from the change to your tap is measured in milliseconds. Five rounds make a test and your score is their average. Tap before the change, or under 100 ms after it (faster than anyone reacts to a colour, so a lucky guess), and that round simply starts again. Most people average between 200 and 300 ms on a computer; a phone's touch screen and a wireless mouse add a little. Your best is kept, and the daily test has the same waits for everyone.
- Click, or press Space, to start a round, then wait: the screen turns red, and after a random pause it turns green.
- The moment it turns green, click (or press Space) as fast as you can. Your time shows in milliseconds.
- Too soon (before the green, or under 100 ms) and the round simply starts again. Five rounds; your score is the average.
How the reaction time test works
Tap the screen, click or press Space to start a round. The field turns red: wait. After a random pause of one and a half to four and a half seconds it turns green, and the clock starts. Tap, click or press Space the moment you see it; the time from the change to your tap is your reaction time for that round, shown in milliseconds (ms). Five good rounds make one test, and your result is their average.
A tap while the field is still red is too soon, and so is a tap under 100 ms after the change: nobody reacts to a colour that fast, so it can only be a lucky guess. Either way the round simply starts again with a new wait, and the result panel says how many times it happened. Because each wait is random, counting in your head does not help.
The friendly scale on your result is only a way to say where you landed: under 180 ms lightning fast, under 220 cat-quick, under 260 quick as a fox, under 310 nice and quick, under 380 steady, and slower than that a little sleepy. It is not a medical or psychological measurement, just your taps against the clock.
How to get a faster reaction time
- Hold your finger just above the screen, or rest your thumb on the Space bar, before the round starts, so the tap is a short press rather than a reach. On a computer, the Space bar or a wired mouse button usually reacts faster than a trackpad tap.
- Look at the middle of the field and stay relaxed. Watching for the change, not guessing when it comes, is what keeps you out of "too soon".
- Do a few warm-up rounds. Most people get a little quicker over the first tests as they settle into the rhythm, and then level off.
- Sleep, alertness and distractions matter far more than tricks: a tired or distracted test is slower. Take a test when you are awake and the room is quiet, and compare tests taken on the same device.
- Your device adds its own delay: a screen shows a change only on its next refresh, a touch screen and a wireless mouse take a few milliseconds to report a tap, and power-saving modes can add more. A phone result is often a little slower than the same person on a computer, which is normal.
Modes and difficulty
Practice runs as many tests as you like, each with new random waits; your best average is kept. The daily test has the same waits for everyone and changes at 00:00 UTC, so its leaderboard is a fair race, and only your first try of the day counts there. Any test can be sent to a friend as a challenge with exactly the same waits.
Playing Reaction Time Test on Matsuri
Most people average somewhere around 200 to 300 ms in a test like this; under 200 is quick, and averages near 150 are very rare. The server checks every test it ranks: rounds under 100 ms are refused, a test must have taken at least as long as its waits and reactions add up to, and an average under 150 ms waits for a person to look at it before it goes on a board. The field has no sound and nothing else moving, so the only thing you react to is the colour.
A little history
Measuring how long people take to react is one of the oldest experiments in psychology. In 1850 Hermann von Helmholtz timed signals travelling along nerves, and in 1868 the Dutch physiologist Franciscus Donders compared simple reactions with choices to estimate how long a decision takes, an idea now called mental chronometry. In the 1880s Francis Galton measured the reaction times of thousands of visitors to his laboratory in London. Simple visual reaction time tests like this one are still used today in research, in driving and sports training, and for fun.
In the same series: Quick tests
- Click Speed Test: How many taps can you fit in 5 seconds?
- Pin Game: Shoot every pin in, never touch another
Update log
- · The reaction time test arrives: wait for green, tap, five rounds, your average in milliseconds, a daily board.
Questions
- What is a good reaction time?
- In a test like this most people average somewhere around 200 to 300 ms. Under 200 ms is quick, and averages near 150 ms are very rare. Phones and wireless mice add a little delay, so the same person often scores a bit slower on a phone.
- Why does it say "Too soon"?
- You tapped before the screen turned green, or under 100 ms after it. Nobody reacts to a colour that fast, so a tap that quick is a guess. The round starts again with a new random wait; it does not lower your score.
- Is this reaction time test free, and does it work on a phone?
- Yes. It is free with no download or sign-up, and works in any browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and inside Telegram through @MatsuriGamesBot. Tap on a touch screen, or click or press Space on a computer.
- How is my reaction time calculated?
- A test is five rounds. Each round measures the milliseconds from the moment the green appears on your screen to your tap, and your result is the average of the five rounds. Your best round and your best average are kept too.
- Can I improve my reaction time?
- A little. Being rested and alert, warming up with a few rounds and keeping your finger ready just above the screen all help, and most people get slightly quicker over their first tests. Large changes come from the device and from how awake you are rather than from practice alone.