Rules of the eight games
Each game introduces itself on a small card before the first round: a picture and three lines. Here the rules sit side by side, with what the levels change and how results are counted.
Flash Grid
Some tiles shine briefly, about a second; pick out each one again, order up to you. Get a round right and a tile is added; get it wrong and one of three lives goes.
Light Trail
Watch which panels light up and in what order, then tap the same path. Every round brings a fresh trail, one step longer after a success.
Number Span
A number is shown a digit at a time; key it in as shown or reversed. Every success lengthens the next number by a digit.
Ink & Word
Answer with the colour each word is printed in and ignore its meaning. You have forty-five seconds; a mistake pauses you for one second.
Odd One Out
Spot the single symbol that is unlike the rest. Twelve rounds against your own clock; each wrong tap costs two seconds.
Step Back
Items arrive one at a time; press Match when the current one also appeared exactly 1, 2 or 3 places before. Scoring is balanced accuracy.
Quick Sums
One minute of problems with whole-number answers, typed on a keypad. The numbers step up after every five you get right.
Reaction Time
Hold still until the panel changes and tap at once. Your score averages five clean taps, and anything too early is a false start.
Things every game shares
- A countdown from three before each round, a pause button in the header (or Esc), and a help button that shows the rules again at any time. If you switch to another tab, the game pauses by itself.
- Sound comes from small synthesised tones and can be switched off in the header; the choice is remembered.
- Every game can be played by touch, mouse or keyboard. The keys are listed on each game’s rule card.
- Your best result, the number of games and a chart of your last twenty results are kept per level, in this browser only.
Guides
- How each kind of task works — A plain guide to the four kinds of task in Tea Break Brain: what recall, focus, number and reaction games ask of you, how they grow harder and how results are counted.
- Keeping your attention in Ink & Word — Why Ink & Word feels harder than it looks, and practical ways to keep your eye on the ink: where to look, how to hold your hand, and how to handle the word-button level.
- Step Back explained — A clear walk-through of Step Back: what n back means with examples, how the balanced accuracy score works, and ways to keep the last few items in mind.