Schulte Table Number Game
Find 1, 2, 3 and on, as fast as your eyes can scan.
About Number Order
Number Order is a digital Schulte table. A grid of shuffled numbers is shown, and you tap them in order, starting with 1, as fast as you can. The clock starts when the grid appears and stops when you have tapped the last number. A wrong tap does not end the round but adds a second to your time.
The grid is three by three on the first levels, four by four from level 4 and five by five from level 7. On levels 9 and 10 the order is reversed: you tap from the highest number down to 1. Your score depends on your time per number, and it rewards a smooth rhythm of search and tap.
How to play
- Find the 1 and tap it. Then look for the 2, and so on. Do not wait to be sure; keep moving.
- Keep your gaze at the centre of the grid and let your peripheral vision find the next number if you can.
- A wrong tap flashes red and costs one second.
- On the last levels, start at the highest number and go down to 1.
Tap the numbers in order, starting at 1, as fast as you can. A wrong tap adds a second to your time. Later levels count down instead.
How scoring works
The score is 100 if your time per number is 0.8 seconds or less, and it falls linearly to 0 at 2.4 seconds per number. On a five by five grid this means 20 seconds for full marks and 60 seconds for zero. Every wrong tap adds one second to your time.
If time runs out the round ends and you receive up to half of the score, in proportion to the numbers found. The time limit is 2.4 seconds per number plus 4 seconds, so 26 seconds for a 3 by 3 grid and 64 seconds for 5 by 5.
What it trains
The game trains visual search speed, attention switching and your ability to keep the next target in mind while searching. It is the digital version of a classic exercise from the Russian psychologist Walter Schulte, which has been used in attention training and in sports and driving schools.
It also builds a calm, systematic scanning habit. Players who improve usually stop searching randomly and learn to sweep the grid or to use their peripheral vision.
Tips for a higher score
- Keep your eyes steady near the middle of the grid and find the numbers with your side vision. This is the technique used in speed-reading training.
- Before you tap a number, already look for the next one. Overlap search and action.
- Don't stop when you tap. Keep a constant rhythm, as a slower rhythm wastes more time than a miss.
- If you are stuck, scan in a spiral or by rows, so you don't look at the same cells twice.
- Play several grids in a row; the first grid is usually the slowest because the eyes are still warming up.
The idea behind it
The Schulte table is named after the German psychiatrist Walter Schulte and became popular in Soviet psychology and sports training as a way of measuring and exercising the 'span of attention' and the speed of visual search. The commonly cited norm for adults on a five by five table is about 25 to 40 seconds, though this varies a great deal with age and practice.
The task involves a combination of serial search, working memory for the next target and motor speed. Visual search research since Anne Treisman's feature integration theory of 1980 shows that finding a target defined by its meaning, like a particular number, needs serial attention, which is why speed depends on how efficiently you scan.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a wrong tap cost a second?
A penalty keeps the game honest: otherwise you could tap quickly in random order. One second is about the cost of a missed search.
Why count down on level 9 and 10?
Counting backwards is less practised than counting forwards, so it takes a bit more attention.
Which games are similar?
Odd One Out trains visual search, and Color Clash trains selective attention.
Related games
Free, no account. Your best scores are saved on your device.