Score
0
Best
-
Read numbers off a soroban-style bead frame and set them with your fingertips. Questions alternate between reading and setting, the frame grows from 2 rods to 8, the clock shrinks every question, and three misses end the run.
Tap Start. On odd-numbered questions the frame shows a number: read it rod by rod and type it on the keypad; it is judged the moment you type the last digit (⌫ removes one digit before that, C clears them all). On even-numbered questions the number is printed in the boxes under the rods: tap beads until the frame shows it, and it counts the instant it matches. Clear empties the frame.
Every rod is one digit and the rightmost rod is the units rod. The single bead above the bar is worth 5 and each of the four beads below it is worth 1, but a bead only counts while it is pushed against the bar. So a rod with the upper bead down and two lower beads up reads 7, and an untouched rod reads 0. Counted beads are drawn in bright amber, resting beads in dark wood, and the dots on the bar mark the units rod and every third rod to its left.
Setting works like a real bead frame. Tap the upper half of a rod to move its 5-bead to the bar or away again. Tap a lower bead that is resting and it moves up to the bar together with every bead between it and the bar; tap a counted lower bead and it drops away together with every counted bead below it. So 3 is a single tap on the third lower bead, and 8 is one tap on the upper bead plus one on the third lower bead.
The run starts with 2 rods and gains a rod every 4 questions, reaching 8 rods on question 25. The leftmost rod is never 0. Each question allows (3 + 1.2 × rods) seconds, cut by 3% for every question already played, so question 1 gives 5.4 seconds, question 25 about 6.1 and question 40 about 3.8; there is no lower limit. The clock only runs while a question is up, not during the short pause between questions.
A correct answer scores the number of rods times (1 + the share of the clock still left), so a 5-rod question is worth between 5 and 10 points. A wrong reading or a clock that runs out costs one of your 3 lives, and after every question the true digit of each rod is printed under it. When the last life is gone the run ends, and your total is shown to one decimal place.
Read a rod in two glances, never bead by bead. First ask whether the upper bead is at the bar: that decides between 0–4 and 5–9. Then read the lower group as a shape rather than a count. One, two, three and four beads against the bar each make a distinct block, and with practice you see the block the way you see the dots on a die. Skilled abacus users never count beads one at a time, and you should not either.
On reading questions, type while you read. The answer is judged on the last digit, so there is no OK button to press, and typing the leftmost digit as soon as you have read it keeps your eyes and fingers working in parallel. The amber cursor box shows which rod you are on; if you lose your place on a long frame, look for the dots on the bar, which split the rods into groups of three from the right, just like the commas in a long number.
On setting questions, think in finger moves, not in values. Every digit needs at most two taps on an empty rod: the upper bead for 5 and above, and one tap on the right lower bead for the remainder. 0 needs none, so rods showing 0 are free time. Work from left to right, the way you read the boxes, and do not tidy up: a lower bead tap already moves every bead it has to. Clear is only for when you have lost track of a rod entirely.
The score rewards speed on big frames. A question is worth its rod count, doubled if you answered instantly, so a slow answer on 8 rods still beats a lightning answer on 3. Lives matter more than seconds: from about question 40 the clock is under 4 seconds for 8 digits, and the run is decided by how many of those you can still land. A rushed wrong digit costs a whole life, while a careful answer that uses most of the clock still scores 8 points or more.