A free online reading challenge. You read a short passage in an unusual script, like mirror writing, upside down text or jumbled letters, tap the moment you finish, then answer three questions about what you read. Your reading speed only counts if all three answers are right.

Yes. Open nnlabs.quest and choose "Try one now". You read one practice passage in the script you pick, answer three questions and see your speed. Nothing about you is saved and no email is needed. Sign up (free, 18 or older) when you want your runs to count.

No. It measures one thing: how fast you read and understand text that looks unfamiliar. It is not an intelligence test or a medical or psychological assessment. People who enjoy puzzles and brain teasers tend to like it, and it is a fair way to compare yourself with friends.

Nine. Baseline is plain text, your control. Jumble shuffles the inside letters of each word. Backspell spells every word backwards. Mirror reflects the whole passage. Upside turns the page 180 degrees. Ox turn mirrors every second line, the way some ancient inscriptions ran. Flipscript turns each letter upside down while you still read left to right. Gauntlet gives each word a different trick. Flipscript Jumble combines upside down letters with shuffled ones and is the hardest.

Mostly, when the first and last letters stay in place and the words are short. The popular post that says Cambridge proved letter order does not matter was not a Cambridge study. Research shows jumbled words do slow reading down, most of all when the first letters move. The Jumble script lets you measure how much it costs you.

About 238 words per minute for silent reading of plain English nonfiction, according to a 2019 review of reading speed studies by Marc Brysbaert. Most people read far slower in mirror or upside down text at first.

Your speed is the words in the passage divided by the seconds you took, times 60. Your score multiplies that speed by a weight for the script, since harder scripts weigh more, and by the share of questions you got right. The leaderboard shows your best verified scores.

All three answers right, a time that matches our server clock, and a passage you have not read before. Answers are checked on the server and never sent to your browser, and each passage can rank only once for you, so skimming or repeating does not help.

Many readers do. My stats shows your average speed in each script and how much of your normal speed you keep in it, so you can watch it change over time.

Reading and the practice try are free. To sign up and appear on the leaderboard you must be 18 or older. Some competitions use entry tickets, which you earn by reading and can never buy.

Every month nnLabs runs a free competition. The top 10 verified readers at the end of the month are invited to a live round on fresh passages nobody has read, and the winner gets $100. Details are on nnlabs.quest/monthly.

Your email is used to sign you in and is never shown. Your name or initials appear on the leaderboard. Reading results may be used in nnLabs research without your name or email, and you can switch that off in My stats. The privacy policy at nnlabs.quest/privacy has the details.

It can be tiring. Take breaks, stop if you feel dizzy or unwell, and never read while driving, cycling or walking.

Novus Nexum Laboratories Inc. (nnLabs), based in Christiansted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. Reading Trials is an nnLabs public research project.

Yes. A Sponsor pack is $500 plus your prize and puts your name and logo on an nnLabs competition. A White label pack is $1,500 plus your prize and runs the whole competition in your brand. See nnlabs.quest/sponsor.