Chimp Test - Number Order Memory Game

How to Play the Chimp Test Game

Chimp Test challenges your visual working memory by asking you to remember both the numbers you see and where they appeared on the grid. Try to hold their positions in mind, then recall them in the correct order after the numbers disappear.

The Chimp Test is inspired by memory research with chimpanzees at Kyoto University. In a famous 2007 study, young chimpanzees, including one named Ayumu, were remarkably good at remembering where numbers appeared on a screen and selecting them in order after the numbers were hidden. Their performance under very short viewing times helped make this type of memory challenge widely known as the Chimp Test.

Learn more: Working memory of numerals in chimpanzees, Current Biology (2007)

• The game starts with 3 numbers placed randomly on a 6x6 grid. You have 5 seconds to memorize their positions.
• You can click 1 while the numbers are still visible to start early. This hides the remaining numbers and counts 1 as your first correct selection. If you wait, the numbers disappear automatically after 5 seconds.
• Click the hidden numbered tiles in order: 1, 2, 3, and so on. You have 20 seconds to complete the round.
• Choosing the wrong next tile or running out of time costs 1 life. You then get a new random layout with the same number of numbers.
• You have 3 lives. Lose all three and the game is over.
• Complete a round to add one more number. Your score is the number of tiles in the hardest round you successfully complete, up to a maximum of 36.