About Chimp Test
Chimp Test places numbered squares around a grid. Study their positions for as long as you like, then tap 1, at which point every other number is hidden. You must tap the rest in order from memory. Each successful round adds one more number.
How to play
- The game starts with the numbers 1 to 4 placed on random squares of an 8 by 5 grid.
- The numbers stay visible until you tap 1. There is no time limit for studying them.
- As soon as you tap 1, all the remaining numbers turn into blank white squares. Tap them in order, 2, 3, 4 and so on, from memory.
- Clear every number in order to move on to the next round, which has one more number in a new random layout.
- Tapping a square out of order is a strike. The same round is then replayed with a fresh layout. Tapping an empty part of the grid does nothing.
- You have three strikes for the whole game, and they do not reset between rounds. After the third strike the game ends.
- Your score is one less than the number of squares in the round you were on when the game ended, which is the size of the last round you completed.
Controls
- Mouse: click the squares in order.
- Touch: tap the squares in order.
- There are no keyboard controls.
Tips and strategy
- Use the unlimited study time. Nothing happens until you tap 1, so trace the full path from 1 to the last number before you start.
- Memorise the route as a shape. Joining the numbers into an imagined line or zigzag is often easier than remembering each position separately.
- Group the numbers into short runs, such as 2 to 4 in the top-left and 5 to 7 along the bottom, and remember each run as a unit.
- Look for landmarks: numbers in corners, on edges or next to each other are easy anchors to build the rest of the route around.
- Strikes are scarce and never come back, so in a long round it is worth a few extra seconds of study rather than risking a guess.
Background
The game is modelled on a task from research at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute led by Tetsuro Matsuzawa. In a 2007 study by Sana Inoue and Matsuzawa, young chimpanzees, most famously one named Ayumu, were trained to touch numerals in order on a screen after the numbers had been masked. Ayumu could do this with remarkable accuracy even when the numbers were shown for a fraction of a second, and in that very brief condition he outperformed the human university students tested. The task exercises visuospatial working memory: holding a set of locations and their order in mind at the same time.
Questions
- How long are the numbers shown for?
- As long as you like. They stay on screen until you tap 1, and then all the remaining numbers are hidden.
- Do strikes reset when I complete a round?
- No. You get three strikes for the whole game. A strike replays the current round with a new layout, and the third strike ends the game.
- How many numbers does the game start with?
- Four. Each round you complete adds one more number.