Items show up one by one. Hit Match whenever the one on screen repeats the item 1, 2 or 3 places before it, using squares on a board or letters.
How a run works
A run shows 20 items plus the number of steps back, one every 2.5 seconds; each item is visible for half a second. In every run there are exactly six matches and no accidental ones.
Press Match (or Space) when the item equals the one n steps back. Leave it alone when it does not.
The result is a balanced accuracy: the share of the six repeats you caught and the share of the other items you rightly ignored, averaged together. Pressing on everything earns 50 %, and so does never pressing at all. The card lists repeats found, false taps and repeats missed.
Modes and levels
- Position: a square lights on a 3×3 board without its centre.
- Letter: a consonant from a set of eight, such as K, R or T, appears in the centre.
- 1 back, 2 back and 3 back: how far back you compare.
Speed tactics
- Keep a moving window: say the last n items silently and drop the oldest one when a new item arrives.
- Give positions names: top left, middle right. Words are easier to carry than squares.
- There are only six matches but fourteen or more non-matches, so a missed match weighs more than a false tap. When you are torn, pressing is the cheaper mistake.
- Use the gap between items to update your window, not to look back at the last answer.
Reading the result card
Found is the number of the six matches you caught, false taps are presses on items that were not matches, and missed is the matches you let pass. The accuracy puts the two halves together.
An example from a 1-back run of 21 items: 5 of 6 matches found and 2 false taps among the 15 non-matches give (5/6 + 13/15) ÷ 2, which is 85 %. One more match found would have lifted it to 93 %; two fewer false taps, to 92 %.
Questions
Why do I get 50 % when I never press?
Because both halves count equally: you left every non-match alone (100 %) but found no match (0 %), and the average is 50 %.
Do the first items count?
The first n items cannot be matches, because there is nothing n steps before them. A press on them counts as a false tap.
Which mode is easier?
That depends on the player. Some hold letters better as sounds, others hold positions better as a picture; try both at 1 back.
Can I play with the keyboard?
Yes. Space presses Match.
Is there a ladder?
Yes, the Step Back ladder, with accuracy targets in both modes and all three levels.