Number Rush
Twenty numbers, scattered on a grid. Tap 1, then 2, then 3, then 4… all the way to 20. The clock starts when you tap 1. The clock stops when you tap 20.
What it is
Number Rush asks for one thing only: tap 1 through 20 in order, as fast as you possibly can. Twenty tiles are placed at twenty randomly-chosen, non-overlapping positions on a 5×5 grid. The clock starts the moment you tap the 1 and stops the moment you tap the 20. Tap wrong (touch a tile that isn't your next number) and the clock keeps running — but the wrong tile flashes red, costing you about 200 ms while you re-orient.
How to play
- Find 1. It's somewhere on the board. Tap it. The clock starts.
- Find 2. Tap it. Then 3. Then 4. The current target is shown at the top in orange.
- Tap 20 to stop the clock. Your time is your score; lower is better.
- Wrong tap, red flash. No penalty besides the time you waste figuring out where to look next.
- Best time saves in this browser. Beat yourself.
The trick
Most players go below 30 seconds inside two attempts. Going below 15 seconds is hard. Going below 12 seconds requires that you stop reading the numbers one at a time and start scanning ahead. The eye can fixate roughly four to five times a second; if you're looking only for "next", you're slow. If you've already located 4 and 5 while reaching for 3, you save the gap. The very best players we've tested arrive in the 8-second band — that's about 21 fixations including the wind-up.
What this scored well on
- Clean win condition. One number, one clock, one score. No combo systems, no multipliers.
- Generous geometry. Tiles are placed on a 5×5 grid so the same tile never appears in two adjacent runs in the same place. The board changes; the rules don't.
- Tap response. The tile registers on
touchstart/pointerdown, not on click. About 80 ms saved per tap, multiplied across 20 taps. You can feel it.
What it gets wrong
On a very small phone screen, the tiles get close enough that thumb fatigue becomes a thing during long sessions. We considered making the board scrollable; we decided not to, because zooming around the board would have changed the game from "scanning" to "navigating", and we were after scanning. On a tablet it's perfect; on a 4-inch phone, take a break between runs.
Who it's for
Number Rush is for anyone whose definition of fun includes "I bet I can do this slightly faster". It's a clean PB-chasing loop with no other distractions. If you've ever timed your typing speed for fun, this is the same shape of activity, rebuilt for visual search.
Where we'd point you next
If you liked the focus loop, try Hue Cue (#02 — Stroop test). If you liked the speed loop, try Pulse Lock (#01 — one-button timing).
Released · 12 May 2026 · Editor's score 4.4 / 5 · Reviewed by Bill