How the keypress game works
A prompt tells you to start, and you press the spacebar again and again with your dominant hand until a prompt tells you to stop. That is the whole game. It is based on the finger-tapping test, which researchers use to measure motor speed and control.
The tapping windows are reported to vary, from about 10 to 60 seconds, possibly over several rounds, so you may not know how long each one lasts. Starting on the prompt and stopping as soon as you are told are reported to count too.
How to pace yourself
Speed matters here, but so does keeping it up:
- Use your dominant hand and rest a finger on the spacebar before the start.
- Keep the movement small: lift your finger just enough to release the key.
- Start on the prompt, not before it.
- Hold a pace you can keep to the end rather than sprinting and fading.
- Stop the moment you are told to.
Tips for the real keypress game
- Use a computer with a physical keyboard if you can. The task is built around the spacebar.
- Sit with the keyboard flat and your wrist supported, so your hand does not tire early.
- Do not wear out your hand practising just before the real game.
Practise the keypress game on CogniPrep
Our Keypress game is a single 40-second run. Press the spacebar, or tap the panel on a phone, as fast as you can; the clock starts when you press Start and you cannot stop early. A running count shows as you go, and the end screen reports your tapping rate, how even the gaps between presses were and how much you slowed in the second half. The real windows are reported to vary in length, so ours trains pace rather than exact timing. Keypress is one of our free games.