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Chimp Test: can you remember more than a chimp?

The famous number-memory test from a chimpanzee study, made into a duel. Numbers appear on the screen, then hide. Tap them in order from memory. Send the link, play the same layouts as your friend, and see who remembers more.

  • 2 players
  • About 3 min
  • Watchable live
  • Free, no sign-up

Challenge a friend

Send the link. As soon as they join, you both get exactly the same challenge.

Mode

Links stay open 48 hours after the last move.

A tablet with the numbers 1 to 6 scattered on white tiles across a dark screen, and a banana lying on its corner

The number test that made a chimp famous

In 2007, researchers in Japan showed that a young chimpanzee named Ayumu could do something remarkable. Numbers flashed on a touchscreen for a fifth of a second, were covered by blank squares, and Ayumu still tapped the squares in the right order. The university students tested against him could not keep up.

The Chimp Test is that task as a game. Numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on appear in random spots on a grid. Memorise where they are, tap 1, and the rest turn into blank tiles. Now tap them in order. Every level adds one more number. Three mistakes and your run is over. Send the link, and your friend plays exactly the same layouts. Whoever remembers more numbers wins.

How to play Chimp Test

Send the link first

The levels unlock once your friend has joined, so you both start on equal terms. You can play at the same time or one after the other.

Memorise the numbers

Tap Start and the numbers appear on the grid. Take as long as you like to remember where they are.

Tap 1, then the rest

When you tap 1, the other numbers turn into blank tiles. Tap them in order from memory: 2, 3, 4 …

Climb the levels

You start with 4 numbers and every level adds one. A wrong tap costs a banana. Lose all three bananas and your run ends. Most numbers wins; on a tie, the faster player wins.

Who is Ayumu?

Ayumu is a male chimpanzee born in 2000. He lives at Kyoto University’s primate research centre in Inuyama, Japan, the former Primate Research Institute. His mother, Ai, was the star of a long-running research project led by Tetsuro Matsuzawa that began in 1978 and studied how chimpanzees understand numbers and symbols. Ai learned to use numerals to count objects and became one of the most famous chimpanzees in science. She died in January 2026 at the age of 49.

Ayumu and two other young chimpanzees started learning the order of the numerals 1 to 9 on a touchscreen when they were four years old. In the study that made him famous, published in the journal Current Biology in 2007 by Sana Inoue and Tetsuro Matsuzawa, Ayumu was the best of the six chimpanzees tested.

What the study found

In the head-to-head test, five numerals appeared on the screen for 650, 430 or just 210 milliseconds, and were then replaced by white squares. With the longest display, Ayumu and the nine university students tested were about equally accurate. As the display got shorter, the students got worse, while Ayumu stayed about as accurate as before. At 210 milliseconds, roughly a fifth of a second, he clearly beat them.

The result made headlines around the world. But it came with a catch: Ayumu had practised for many sessions, while each student played just one.

Can humans beat the chimp?

Yes, with practice. In 2009, two researchers trained themselves on the same task and matched Ayumu at a fifth of a second. In 2010, two students trained for a few months on the slower version and then scored over 90 percent at 210 milliseconds, well above Ayumu. The researchers concluded that there is no evidence that chimpanzees have a better short-term memory than people who practise.

Tetsuro Matsuzawa has suggested a different idea, known as the cognitive trade-off hypothesis: early humans may have traded some of this quick visual memory for language. It remains a hypothesis. Either way, the test is a great way to find out how good your own memory is.

Classic and Chimp mode

Classic works like the popular online chimp test: the numbers stay until you tap 1, so you can take your time to memorise them.

Chimp mode is closer to the timed test from the study: the numbers vanish by themselves after 0.65 seconds, the longest display in the experiment. Whoever sends the link picks the mode.

Tips for a better score

  • Make a path. Trace a line from 1 to 2 to 3 in your mind, like connecting the dots.
  • Group the numbers. Remember them in small groups, such as 1–3 at the top left and 4–6 on the right.
  • Start fast. The first few numbers are easy to lose while you think about the last ones. Tap them first.
  • Practise. The studies show it: people who practise get much better.

Chimp Test FAQ

What is the chimp test?

A working memory test: numbers appear in random places on a grid, then hide, and you tap them in order from memory. It is based on a 2007 study in which a young chimpanzee named Ayumu did very well on the same kind of task.

What is a good score?

You start at 4 numbers and every level adds one. On the popular online version, the most common final scores are around 9 or 10. Getting into the teens is excellent, and with practice you can go further.

Are chimpanzees smarter than humans?

No. The study looked at one narrow memory task, and one young chimpanzee stood out against students who had not practised. Later studies showed that people who practise can match or beat him.

Do both players get the same numbers?

Yes. Both players get exactly the same layouts, level by level. If you make a mistake, your next try at that level is also the same one your friend would get.

What happens if I tap the wrong tile?

You lose a banana and the board shows where every number was. You then try the same number of tiles again with a new layout. After three mistakes your run ends.

What is Chimp mode?

In Chimp mode the numbers disappear by themselves after 0.65 seconds, the longest display time in the chimpanzee study. It is much harder than Classic.

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