Attention and Speed Reading Games: Schulte Table, Stroop

This section has 19 exercises that train concentration, visual search and how fast you take in text. You’ll find the classic Schulte tables and Stroop test, word, number and error search, reading through distractions, and tongue twisters for diction.

Schulte table online →Stroop test online →

All games in this section (19)

Find the Error

ReadingAttentionProcessing speedFree

Spot the word with a missing letter or a repeated word. Trains careful fast reading — a proofreader’s skill.

How to play: Read the sentence and quickly tap the word missing a letter or either of two consecutive repeated words. Each sentence has one error. Wrong taps add one second to your score without ending the attempt. A correction appears after each answer. Choose the number of attempts in settings. Settings: difficulty, which changes sentence length and complexity. Your score is the average search time including penalties.

Schulte Table

AttentionPeripheral visionProcessing speedFreePlayable online

The classic find-the-numbers-in-order exercise. Widens your visual span, speeds up search and helps with speed reading.

How to play: Find numbers in order from 1 to the last as fast as you can. Hard mode in settings: no cells, numbers are scattered around the field and keep swapping places.

Try it online →

Find Same Emoji

Selective attentionProcessing speed

Find the matching pair in a busy field of emojis — a visual search and comparison drill.

How to play: Find two identical emojis among others. The faster, the better.

Dual Runner

AttentionCognitive flexibilityHand–eye coordination

Two lanes and two sets of obstacles: teaches you to split attention between two tasks at once.

How to play: Two columns with falling obstacles. Tap or swipe left/right on each lane to shift the sliders and avoid collisions.

Digits

Processing speedWorking memoryReading

A number flashes for a moment. Trains perception speed — the basis of fast reading — and short-term memory.

How to play: A number is shown briefly, then choose the correct option. Settings: speed and digits count. Statistics: accuracy.

Odd Emoji

Selective attentionProcessing speedAttention

Every emoji has a twin except one. A drill in systematic visual search without skipping.

How to play: Many emojis appear on the screen, all have a pair except one. You need to find and tap the one that has no pair.

Color Text

Cognitive flexibilityImpulse controlProcessing speed

Does the word’s meaning match its ink colour? A Stroop-style task: compare two conflicting features fast.

How to play: Determine if the word's meaning matches the text color. Decide quickly.

Find Number

Selective attentionProcessing speedReading

Find the target among many similar numbers. Each level adds more and longer numbers.

How to play: Find the specified number among many numbers. Each round gets harder.

Find Emoji

Selective attentionProcessing speed

Find the target emoji in the crowd — a short visual search workout.

How to play: A target emoji is shown at the top. Find it among many emojis and tap on it.

Which Emoji Is Missing?

AttentionVisual memory

Work out which emoji is missing from the board. Teaches careful scanning and holding a picture in mind.

How to play: A set of emojis is shown on the board. Choose the emoji that is not present on the board.

Find by Silhouette

Spatial skillsSelective attention

Recognise an emoji by its rotated silhouette. Trains shape recognition and mental rotation.

How to play: A target emoji is shown at the top. Below are scattered and rotated emoji silhouettes. Find the silhouette that matches the target. Settings: emoji count and attempts.

Inverted Digits

Spatial skillsProcessing speedWorking memory

Read an upside-down number in a fraction of a second — a load on visual perception and memory.

How to play: A number is shown upside down briefly, then choose the correct option. Settings: speed and digits count. Statistics: accuracy.

Color Word

Impulse controlCognitive flexibilityAttentionPlayable online

The Stroop test: a colour word printed in a different ink. Trains the ability to ignore distracting information.

How to play: A colour word appears on the screen, printed in a different ink colour. Tap the button for the colour the word names — its meaning, not the colour of the letters.

Try it online →

Spinning Text

ReadingAttention

Read text in which every letter spins. Your brain learns to recognise words in awkward conditions.

How to play: Sentences appear on screen, and each letter spins. Read the text and tap Next. Settings: text difficulty and spin speed.

Black Letters

Selective attentionReadingImpulse control

Read only the black letters among coloured noise — training to filter distractions while reading.

How to play: A text appears on the screen, but random colored characters are added between the real letters. Read only the black letters to find the correct words.

Visual Search

Selective attentionProcessing speedAttention

Find the odd one out among similar items as the grid grows and the differences get subtler.

How to play: Find the odd one among similar items. Difficulty grows via larger grid and lower contrast.

Diction

DictionSpeakingReading

Timed tongue twisters with a reference recording. Trains diction, speech tempo and reading aloud.

How to play: A tongue twister appears on the screen. Read it aloud the required number of times and tap "Done" — the app measures your time. Then honestly mark whether you got through it cleanly. You can listen to a reference reading before you start.

Learn more →

Find the Word

ReadingSelective attentionProcessing speed

Find a word in a large block of text. Trains scanning — quickly locating what you need in a document.

How to play: The word to look for is shown on top, with a large block of text below. Find that word and tap it as fast as you can — it appears exactly once. A wrong tap does not end the round but is counted. Settings: number of attempts and number of words in the text.

Find the Difference

Selective attentionAttentionProcessing speed

A six among eights, a C among Os: the field gets denser with every symbol you find.

How to play: The field is filled with identical symbols and one of them is different: a six hidden among eights, a C among O letters. Find it and tap it. After every symbol you find the field gets denser. A wrong tap does not end the round but is counted. Settings: number of attempts, starting level and symbol set — digits or letters.

What attention is made of

Attention is not one ability but several. Selective attention lets you pick out what matters and ignore the noise. Sustained attention keeps you on one thing for a long time. Divided attention is needed when you follow two streams at once. Switching lets you re-engage with a new task quickly. The games in this section load each of these separately.

Psychology classics on your phone

The Schulte table — finding numbers in order. Proposed by the German psychiatrist Walter Schulte, it is used today to train visual span and speed reading.
The Stroop test — described by John Ridley Stroop in 1935. The word “red” printed in blue forces your brain to resolve a conflict between two signals. It is one of the most studied cognitive control tasks.
Visual search — find the odd one, the difference, the number. The denser the field and the subtler the differences, the more systematic you need to be.

Speed reading: what is real and what is a myth

Average adult silent reading speed is roughly 200–300 words per minute. Promises of “1,000 words a minute with full comprehension” are not supported by research: when you push the speed too far, comprehension drops. What is realistic is reading without unnecessary regressions, finding what you need in a text faster, and staying focused without tiring. That is what Find the Word, Find the Error, Digits, Black Letters and Spinning Text train.

An honest note on results

Attention games improve most what you practise: search speed, accuracy and resistance to distraction. Transfer to everyday life is not automatic — it grows when you also build a habit of doing one task at a time and switching between apps less.

Attention and the endless feed

Short videos train the brain to expect a new stimulus every few seconds. Afterwards a book, a lecture or a work document feels unbearably slow. These games offer the opposite workout: one goal, full engagement, a clear result within a minute. They are easy to open instead of the feed — in a queue, on the bus, during a break. See the full plan in our guide How to stop doomscrolling.

Diction and reading aloud

The Diction game is a set of timed tongue twisters with a reference recording. Reading aloud engages attention, articulation and speech tempo at once — a good warm-up before a talk, a call or recording a video.

How to practise

Start with a 5×5 Schulte table and note your time.
Add one search game (word, number or difference) and one control game (Stroop or Black Letters).
Check your statistics once a week: search time and misses should go down.

Frequently asked questions

Do Schulte tables help you read faster?

Schulte tables train visual search and the ability to take in a wide area at a glance. That is a useful part of fast reading, but on its own it won’t double your speed. Combine them with in-text search drills and regular reading.

What is the Stroop effect?

It is the slowdown and errors that appear when a word’s meaning and its ink colour don’t match. Your brain reads the word automatically and must suppress that to name the colour. Try the online Stroop test.

Are these games suitable for ADHD?

Many people find that short games with quick feedback help them get into a task. But games don’t treat ADHD and don’t replace professional advice. Use them as extra practice, not as therapy.

How long does one game take?

Usually between 30 seconds and 2–3 minutes. Each game lets you set the number of attempts and the difficulty.

Five minutes for your brain instead of the feed

Download Cabe free for iPhone, iPad, Mac or Android: 113 games and exercises for reaction, memory, attention, mental math and English, plus breathing practices and habit trackers.

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Attention and speed reading games