Timed (Freehand)

About Timed (Freehand)

Timed asks you to feel a duration rather than measure it. Each round names an interval, never a whole number of seconds, such as 4.3. You press and hold, the screen goes dark, and there is no clock, counter or anything moving at a steady rate to help. You let go when you think the interval has passed.

Counting in your head is allowed, but because the targets fall between whole seconds it never gets you all the way there. Each hold is scored in proportion to the interval asked for, so a long interval is no harder to score well on than a short one. A row of five markers at the top shows which round you are on, and the day's score runs out of 50.

There are five intervals a day, one hold each, the same five for everyone. Timed is one of six free daily estimation games on Freehand, beside Angled, Halved, Dropped, Balanced and Counted.

It suits anyone who wants a minute-long daily test that needs no knowledge at all, only a sense of how long a few seconds feel.

How to play Timed (Freehand)

1. Open Timed and read the interval you are asked for, for example 4.3 seconds.
2. Press and hold: the screen goes dark.
3. Let go when you think the interval is up.
4. Repeat for the day's five intervals and see how close each hold came.

Tips

• Settle on a steady inner rhythm before you press, rather than starting to count after.
• The targets are fractions of a second past a whole number: plan to hold a little past your last count.
• Keep your breathing even while the screen is dark: rushing or holding your breath tends to throw the count off.

Questions