How to take the verbal memory test
- Press Start. A word appears in the middle of the board.
- If you’ve already seen that word in this game, press Seen (or S). If it’s new, press New (or N).
- Each right answer is a point. A wrong answer costs one of your three lives, and the game ends when they run out.
How the test works
Words appear one at a time. For each one, decide whether it has already appeared in this game. Early on almost everything is new, but the list of words you’ve seen keeps growing, so each repeat could be any of them.
You have three lives. Each wrong answer costs one, and the game ends on the third. When it’s over you see your score and the word that caught you out.
Tips
- Don’t trust familiarity alone. Common words feel familiar even when they’re new to this game. Ask yourself whether you saw it here, not whether you know it.
- Picture each word. Making a quick mental image of “lantern” or “gallop” helps it stick.
- Keep a steady pace. There’s no time limit, but long pauses give earlier words time to blur together.