How to play the reaction game
Each turn works the same way. The red panel turns green after a random wait of about 1.5 to 5 seconds, and the player clicks, taps or presses Space. After five tries the screen shows an average in milliseconds, and that average is the player’s score for the turn. Lowest score wins.
A click before green does not count. The try is cancelled and repeated, so nobody can win by guessing.
Party rules: best of three averages
- Pick one device and put it where everyone can see the screen.
- Choose a scorekeeper with paper or a phone.
- Every player takes three turns. A turn is five tries and gives one average.
- Each player keeps the best of their three averages.
- The lowest kept average wins. In a tie, the tied players take one more turn each.
Other formats
| Format | How it works |
|---|---|
| Knockout | Players pair up, and the lower average in each pair goes through |
| Teams | Add up every member’s average, and the lowest team total wins |
| Beat the host | One player sets a score and everyone else tries to beat it |
| Wrong hand round | Everyone plays with the hand they do not normally use |
Classroom version
The game also works as a short data activity. Each student takes one turn and reports an average. The class can then find the mean, the fastest and slowest scores and the spread.
It also makes a simple experiment. Ask the class to predict whether people react faster to sound or to sight, then test it with the auditory reaction time test on the same device. Sound reactions are typically 30 to 50 ms faster than visual ones, so the class has a known result to check its own data against.
Keeping it fair
Use one device for everyone. Screens and input devices typically add 20 to 50 ms, and the amount differs from one device to the next, so scores from separate phones do not compare well.
Let each player have one practice turn before the scores count. Clear the saved history in the Your scores panel before the game if you want the panel to show only this session.
For a two player duel, see the reaction time game. For a version with ranks to climb, try the reflex test game.