Middle Arrow

Tap the direction of the middle arrow, and ignore the ones around it.

Focus & speed · All ages

Look at the middle arrow and tap the direction it points, as fast as you can.

About this game

Middle Arrow is a focus and speed game. A row of arrows appears, and you tap the direction the middle one points as fast as you can. The arrows beside it sometimes point the other way to distract you.

It is based on the flanker task, a classic test of selective attention. To do well you have to pay attention to the centre and hold back the pull of the arrows around it, and the flanker task is one of the most widely used ways to study that.

How to play

Look at the middle arrow of the row.
Tap left or right for the way it points.
Keep going as fast as you can while staying accurate. The rounds get quicker as you improve.

Tips

Look at the middle arrow first, before the ones beside it.
Accuracy matters as much as speed. A wrong tap costs more than a slightly slower one.
Keep your eyes on the centre of the row so the outer arrows blur into the background.

How it adapts

Kids get more time and calmer pacing. Teens and adults get quicker rounds and more distracting rows. The pace adjusts to how you play.

Questions

What is the flanker task?

It is a well-known attention test where you respond to a central target while ignoring the items beside it, which are sometimes conflicting.

Why do the outer arrows sometimes point the other way?

That is the challenge. Conflicting arrows pull your attention, and resisting them is what the game trains.

Is it better to be fast or accurate?

Try to be both. Score comes from correct answers, so a few extra milliseconds is a good trade for a right answer.

The research behind it

The flanker task has been used since the 1970s to study how we filter out distractions. Practice improves your speed and accuracy on the task; we don't claim it improves attention in general.