It measures how many words you can hold in short-term memory at once. Each word that appears is either brand new or one you have already been shown — recognising which is which gets harder as the list of seen words grows.

Surviving 30 or more words is a solid score, 50+ is excellent, and beyond 80 is exceptional. Your score is the number of correct answers you give before losing all three lives.

Active strategies help most: silently repeat new words, link them into a running story, or attach a vivid image to each one. Regular reading and word games also strengthen verbal recall over time.