Reaction Time Test

The pasture holds, then turns green. Tap the instant it does. Five rounds, and you get your average in milliseconds.

5 rounds · about 30 seconds

How the reaction time test works

The pad holds on “wait” for a random length of time between roughly one and four seconds, then turns green. The moment it does, tap. The gap between the colour changing and your tap is your reaction time, measured in milliseconds. The hold is random on purpose — if it were a fixed delay you could learn the rhythm and anticipate it, which would measure your timing rather than your reflexes.

Five rounds are averaged, because a single attempt is noisy. If you tap before the pad turns green that round simply does not count and you can retry it. Most adults average between 200 and 300 milliseconds on a test like this.

Questions

What is a good reaction time?

For a visual signal like this, most adults land between 200 and 300 milliseconds. Under 200ms is genuinely quick, and under 150ms usually means you guessed rather than reacted.

How does the test work?

The pad holds on "wait" for a random length of time, then turns green. You tap as soon as it does, and the gap is your reaction time. The random hold is what stops you timing it by rhythm. Five rounds are averaged.

Why did it say I was too early?

You tapped before the pad turned green, so there was nothing to react to. That round does not count and you can retry it — it is not a penalty.

Does the device affect my score?

A little. Touchscreens and high refresh rate screens generally measure slightly faster than a trackpad. Compare your times on the same device rather than against someone else on a different one.

More to play: Herd Memory, Odd One Out, or all solo games.