Variant
Speed
Fast flashes. Faster dials.
How it works
- ·1-second flash of the target color
- ·10 seconds to dial it with the HSV sliders
- ·Submit early for up to +2 bonus points
- ·5 rounds · 60 points possible
Ready when you are
Fast flashes. Faster dials.
Ready when you are
Speed is the standard color-memory game with the flash compressed to one second. Everything else stays the same — three sliders, a live preview, ten seconds to submit. The pace forces you to commit before you’re ready, which is exactly the point.
A one-second flash is roughly the threshold below which most people stop registering color details consciously. You see the swatch, your eyes resolve it, and then it’s gone. The clock starts the moment the swatch disappears. You have ten seconds to dial the three HSV sliders and lock in your answer. The faster you submit a correct-ish guess, the bigger the time bonus you collect on top of the color score.
Don’t rush the dial — rush the decision. Most players who score badly in Speed waste two or three seconds hesitating before they touch the sliders, then panic-tweak in the last second. Better strategy: form a fast first impression in the first half-second of the flash (warm or cool? bright or muted? near grey or saturated?), commit to it the moment the flash ends, and dial confidently. A confident wrong guess submitted in three seconds usually beats a hesitant accurate one submitted in nine.
Color accuracy is scored by CIEDE2000 — a perfect match is 10 points. The time bonus adds up to 2 points more, scaling linearly from a full +2 for an instant submit down to zero at the ten-second mark. Five rounds, 60 points possible. A 50+ run takes either an unusually fast eye or a lot of practice; most players settle into the 30–40 range until they learn to trust their first impression.