Do typing games help you type faster?

Typing games can help, but mostly by getting you to practice. We did not find a randomized trial that shows a typing game raises speed more than plain, accurate practice does. The best evidence we found comes from small studies of novice learners, and it is uneven. Our guide to how to type faster describes the practice that builds speed, and a game is worth using only if it supports that practice.

We found no randomized trial of typing games

Our search looked for a study that randomly assigned learners to a typing game or to ordinary practice, and then measured speed and accuracy. We did not find one. What exists is a handful of small studies in classrooms, some student dissertations and the claims of companies that sell typing games. Each has limits, so weigh them as leads rather than proof.

A small study of one school saw a larger gain with a game

The most detailed study we read is a 2017 master's dissertation from the University of Cape Town. Its participants were grade 11 learners from a single township school in the Western Cape Province, South Africa ¹. The gamified group started at about 8 words per minute, and by the end of the training its average speed was 25, with accuracy rising from 43 to 93 percent ².

The control group also improved, from 8.3 words per minute to 15, with accuracy rising from 44 to 70 percent ³. Both groups got better with training, which is what you would expect from any practice. The difference between the groups is the finding, and it rests on one school, small groups and no random assignment. A broad claim that games work for all novices would go well beyond that design.

Games kept learners practicing longer

The dissertation's most useful point may be about time on task. It reports that the gamified group showed high interest in the training and spent more time on computers than the control group ⁴. A game that keeps you at the keyboard can add practice that would otherwise not happen.

More time at the keyboard is not the same as more accurate practice, though. A game that rewards hurried, careless typing could give you more time and worse habits, so check what it scores before you rely on it.

A vendor's figure is smaller and unpublished

Ratatype, a typing tutor company, says that its typing games can improve typing speed by 8 to 10 percent, based on data it has collected ⁵. The company does not publish how it gathered the data, which players it measured or whether it compared them with players who did not use the games. Treat the figure as a marketing claim, not as a measurement. The same answer recommends combining the games with the company's typing tutor, which suggests that the games are meant as an addition to practice rather than a replacement for it.

A game is a reward, and the reward decides what you practice

Games work through rewards, and rewards shape habits. In a 2003 experiment, changing the reinforcement reduced the effect of melioration on touch-typing scores after training ⁶. That experiment used 22 students ⁷, so it is a small study, but it shows that the reward on screen can change which habits people keep.

In our reading, that makes the scoring of a game the most important design choice. If it rewards raw speed, it can reward the fastest result even when the errors pile up. If it penalizes errors or shows accuracy, it rewards the habit you want. Choose the game for its scoring, not for its graphics.

Short sessions suit a game better than long ones

Spacing matters for how you schedule practice. A meta-analysis of practice studies found that spaced practice beat massed practice, with a mean weighted effect size of 0.46 ⁸. That analysis covered practice in general rather than typing games, so it supports the schedule, not the game. In practice, a game that you play in a short daily session fits the pattern better than a long weekly marathon.

How to choose a game and use it

• It rewards accuracy. The score should count errors, or show accuracy beside speed.
• It uses words you type. Games built on random letters may drill pairs you rarely use. Look for word lists, or use your own text when the game allows it.
• It fits a short daily session. Our suggestion is 15 to 30 minutes a day, the range our guide to how to type faster recommends for practice.
• It is checked outside the game. Once a week, type a fixed passage with no game and record speed and errors. If the game gains do not show up there, the game is practice, not progress.
• It does not make you look at the keys. If you start watching the keyboard to hit targets, stop and slow down, as our question on why typing speed is not improving explains.

It depends on where you start

The learners in the Cape Town study started at about 8 words per minute ². For a true beginner, a game may be the thing that gets you practicing at all, and that can matter more than the exact method. For someone who already types at a steady pace and has stalled, a game is unlikely to be the key, and accurate practice on your own writing is more likely to help. Our question on how to type faster without mistakes covers that practice.

Where to go next

• Why is my typing speed not improving? lists the usual causes of a stall.
• Is 40 words per minute a good typing speed? helps you judge where a beginner stands.
• Touch typing explains the standard finger layout.