Chimp test
Free chimp test online: memorise numbered squares that vanish on your first click, then clear them in order. Boards grow from 4 to 12 numbers with three lives.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
How this test works
4–12 numbers · three lives
Memorise the numbered positions, then select 1, 2, 3 and so on. All remaining numbers hide after your first selection. Start with four numbers on a 6 × 5 grid. Complete a board to add one number; a wrong selection costs a life. Three errors end the game. The ceiling is 12 numbers. The elapsed timer begins at Start; there is no countdown.
The timer begins only after you press Start. No signup. Full results are free.
What the chimp test measures
The chimp test is a working memory game. Numbers appear at random positions on a grid; the moment you click 1, every other number is hidden and you must click the remaining squares in ascending order from memory. It tests how many positions you can hold at once, and how quickly you can encode them as a pattern rather than as a list.
The task became famous through research at Kyoto University, where young chimpanzees outperformed adult humans at recalling the positions of numerals shown for a fraction of a second. This version keeps the mechanics and drops the time limit on studying the board, so it is a practice game about capacity and strategy, not a replication of that experiment.
How this free test works
- A 6 × 5 grid, starting with four numbers. Study the board as long as you like. Your first click hides all the remaining numbers.
- Clear the board in order to add one number. The ceiling is 12.
- Three lives. A wrong square costs a life and ends that board; three errors end the game.
- Your score is the largest board you completed in full. Partial boards do not count, so three mistakes on the first board score 0, not 4.
- Elapsed time is recorded for reference. There is no countdown.
- An optional shareable result with a permanent link, preview image and an Add to LinkedIn profile button.
Sample chimp test board
A seven-number board might show 1 in the bottom left, 2 near the top right, 3 next to it, 4 in the centre and 5, 6 and 7 scattered down the left side. Most people who clear it do not remember seven independent squares. They remember a shape: “bottom left, jump to the top right pair, drop to the centre, then down the left edge.” The numbers hide as soon as you click 1, so the route has to be in your head before that click.
How to improve your chimp test score
- Trace the route before your first click. Move your eyes from 1 to the last number in order at least once. Study time is free; use it.
- Chunk the board. Group neighbouring numbers into pairs or lines, and remember the jumps between groups rather than every square.
- Click at a steady pace. Rushing produces slips on squares you actually remembered, and each slip costs a life.
- Use spatial anchors. Corners, edges and the centre are easier to hold than “somewhere in the middle of the grid”.
- Stop when you are tired. Capacity drops fast with fatigue, and a wrong square on a big board costs more than a fresh attempt later.
Reading your result
Your result is the largest board you completed, out of a maximum of 12, together with the number of boards completed and lives used. The result guide explains the scoring and its limits. Unlimited study time makes this a practice game rather than a controlled memory test, so the score is not comparable to laboratory studies or to IQ norms and is not a clinical measure of memory.
Related free tests
- Digit span test: sequences of digits shown one at a time, forward or backward, the classic span task.
- Memory test: a lit pattern of tiles to reproduce, another visual memory game.
- Reaction time test: speed of response without a memory load.