Echo Grid
Watch the sequence. Tap it back. Then tap it backwards. Spatial working memory — trained hard.
How to Play
A sequence of tiles flashes on the grid. Watch, then repeat it back in the same order — or in reverse, depending on the phase.
Some flashes are distractors: shorter, amber-coloured, and not part of the sequence. Tapping one costs a life, same as a wrong tile.
Forward recall tests memory. Backward recall tests memory under an extra layer of mental manipulation — reversing what you just watched.
The Science Behind Echo Grid
Tiles flash, one after another, then go dark, and it's your turn to tap them back in the same order. That's Echo Grid's basic loop, and underneath it sits the Corsi Block Tapping Test, a neuropsychological tool built to measure visuospatial working memory: your capacity to hold and manipulate spatial sequences in mind, separate from anything verbal.
Forward and backward recall might look like two difficulty settings, but they're measuring genuinely different things. Forward recall leans on raw storage — how much sequence can you hold? Backward recall adds a manipulation step on top, since you have to reverse the order in your head before answering. Same sequence length, heavier load.
The amber distractor tiles add a third demand neither version of the classic test really tests: filtering. Your eyes register every flash whether it belongs or not, but your memory has to actively keep the wrong ones out of the sequence you're building. That's a small, real cognitive skill of its own, separate from just remembering more.
Tips to Improve Your Score
- Label as you watch, don't just look. Even a quick internal tag — top-left, then middle — beats passive watching. That light encoding effort measurably improves recall.
- The amber tiles are the actual trap. The real sequence is usually memorable once seen. Distractors are what catches people out — treat any amber flash as 'exclude,' not just 'different.'
- Flip backward sequences immediately, not at recall time. Reversing the order the moment it finishes, while it's still fresh, beats trying to flip it under pressure later.
FAQ
What's actually different between forward and backward recall?
Forward recall measures raw storage — how much you can hold. Backward recall adds mental manipulation on top, since you have to reverse the sequence before answering. Same length, heavier load.
Why include tiles that aren't even part of the sequence?
Because filtering irrelevant information out of an active memory trace is its own cognitive skill, separate from just remembering more. The amber tiles test that directly.
This is modeled on an actual clinical assessment. Which one?
The Corsi Block Tapping Test — a standard neuropsychological assessment for visuospatial working memory. This is a digital version of it.
What brings a run to an end?
Three strikes and it's over — a wrong tile or a distractor tap each cost one life. Sequences get longer as you go, so most runs end from a memory slip rather than running out the clock.