Follow the Dot — Play Free Online

Free visual tracking game — instant play, no signup, no download

Follow the Dot highlights one dot in a field of identical dots, removes the highlight, and sets everything moving. You follow your dot and click it when the motion stops. It is the canonical multiple-object-tracking task from attention research, in its simplest one-target form.

How to play

The target dot is highlighted briefly.

The highlight vanishes and all the dots begin moving.

Follow your dot as it moves among the identical ones.

Click it when the movement stops.

Rounds add more distractors and faster motion.

What it actually trains

Sustained attentional tracking. Attention can be attached to a moving location and dragged along with it, but the attachment is fragile and any crossing is a chance to lose it.

Tips to score higher

Watch with soft focus rather than fixating. Hard fixation makes you lose the dot the moment it moves off centre.

Do not blink while dots are crossing. That is when almost all losses happen.

Anchor to the nearest edge or corner when your dot passes one — it gives you something to recover from.

If you have genuinely lost it, do not guess randomly: pick a dot that has stayed near where yours was heading.

Frequently asked questions

How many dots can I track at once?

This version uses one target. Research puts the typical multi-target limit at three to five; Dual Tracker is the two-target version if you want to test that.

Why do I lose it exactly when two dots cross?

Because at the crossing moment your attention has two equally good candidates and no way to tell them apart. Any error you make is made there.

Does faster motion make it harder?

Up to a point, yes, but very fast motion reduces the time spent in ambiguous crossings, so the hardest speed is usually a moderate one.

Is this useful for sport?

It targets the same tracking, but transfer from lab tracking tasks to real play is not established. Treat it as a measure.