Number Span

One digit at a time, a number goes by. Key it back on the pad, either as shown or reversed in the backwards mode; each correct answer makes the next number one digit longer.

How a run works

Up to 14 rounds, three lives. The number plays out one digit after another; when the last one fades, the keypad unlocks for your answer. Get it right and the next number grows by a digit; get it wrong and you lose a life while the length holds.

No digit appears twice in a row, and there are no straight runs such as 4-5-6 or 9-8-7, so every number has to be read rather than guessed.

The figure that counts is the longest number you keyed back without an error, with your rounds and mistakes listed below it.

Modes and levels

• In order: type the digits as they came.
• Backwards: type them from last to first.
• Easy starts with 3 digits shown 0.8 seconds each; Medium starts with 4 at 0.65 seconds; Hard starts with 5 at 0.52 seconds.

Speed tactics

• Chunk the number like a phone number: 7-3-9, then 1-4, then 8-2. Three short groups hold better than eight loose digits.
• Say the digits silently in the rhythm they arrive. The rhythm itself helps to replay them.
• Backwards: keep the chunks, then reverse them one by one, starting with the last chunk.
• Type as soon as the keypad opens. The number is freshest in the first second.
• Keep your eyes on the spot where the digits appear; looking away for the keypad too early can cost the last digit.

In order or backwards?

The two modes keep separate bests and separate charts, because they ask for different work: backwards you have to hold the whole number and turn it around before the first key. Most players reach a shorter length backwards, so do not judge one mode by the other.

A run in order makes a good warm-up before a backwards one. On the ladder the first twelve steps are in order and the last twelve backwards, each block climbing through all three levels.

Questions