The Corsi block-tapping game and the N-back game are both spatial or working-memory activities you can play in a browser, but they ask for two different operations. In the Corsi route, you watch a fixed sequence of highlighted locations light up one at a time on a visible board, and then you tap those same locations back in the order you saw them — forward, or in reverse, as a single choice you make before the run begins. In an N-back round, each step is judged against a step that appeared a fixed distance earlier in the stream (for example, the previous step in 1-back, or two steps ago in 2-back), so your answer on every step is "match" or "no match" rather than a recalled sequence. Both are built around labelled positions on a compact board, both keep their routes visible to you while you play, and both treat the result as a private browser record rather than a clinical score. The Corsi Block Tapping Game, available at /games/corsi-block-test/, follows exactly that shape: a small labelled 3×3 board, five fixed product-authored routes, and a best-score marker that is saved in this browser and is not sent to Lizely. Try the Corsi Block Tapping Game to do this in your browser.
What Each Game Actually Asks You to Do
The Corsi block-tapping route is a visible-sequence game. The board holds nine labelled locations arranged in three rows. When you choose Show round, the first fixed route begins: one block at a time, the page highlights a labelled square, and that square stays lit until you choose Show next block. Because the highlighted block does not flash past, you can look at it for as long as you like before advancing. After the final location in the route is shown, the board becomes active and you tap or click each square in the same order you saw it. If a physical keyboard is handy, keys 1 through 9 select the matching board locations, and a square you have already pressed is disabled so an accidental second click cannot silently become another step in your answer.
N-back is a different kind of working-memory game. Instead of watching a complete short route and then repeating it, you see one step at a time and your job is to decide, on each step, whether that step matches the step that appeared a fixed distance ago in the same stream. In a 1-back run, every answer is judged against the immediately previous step; in a 2-back run, every answer is judged against the step two positions back. You answer in real time with a match or no-match response, and the typical score counts hits, misses, correct rejections, and false alarms across the stream. The two games measure different things: Corsi asks you to recall a spatial sequence that has just been displayed; N-back asks you to maintain an updating mental pointer against a moving stream.
Where the Two Routes Diverge
Because both activities use a labelled board and a fixed sequence of positions, it is easy to assume they are interchangeable. They are not. The table below lays out the practical differences a player will notice when they open each browser game. The exact route lengths, button labels, and span ladder come from the Corsi Block Tapping Game product description; the N-back column describes how a fixed 1-back / 2-back browser game is typically structured.
| Feature | Corsi Block Tapping Game | Typical N-Back Browser Game |
|---|---|---|
| Input shape | Tap each square in the order shown | Press a match or no-match key each step |
| Sequence length | Fixed routes of 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 steps | Continuous stream of single steps |
| Recall direction | Forward or reverse, picked once before the run | N-back level (1-back, 2-back, …) fixed per run |
| Visible reveal | Each block stays lit until you advance | Each step shown briefly, then hidden |
| Answer feedback | Full sequence judged correct or incorrect | Per-step match / no-match feedback |
| Score scope | Local best score in your browser only | Local hit / miss / false-alarm counts |
| Account or upload | None | None in the browser variant |
The most important row is the recall direction row, because it is what makes the Corsi route genuinely a different game when you flip it. In a forward run, you simply repeat the order you saw. In a reverse run, the first location you saw becomes the last square you must tap. That single rule change is the whole difference between the two modes inside the same browser game, and it is the closest thing the product offers to a "harder" setting.
How to Play the Corsi Block Tapping Game
- Open the game and decide whether you want a forward run or a reverse run. Pick Forward order or Reverse order on the page before you start; that choice stays fixed for the entire local playthrough so its score describes one clear game rule.
- Choose Show round when you are ready. The first highlighted block of the first fixed route appears on the board and stays lit — the page does not rush past it while you are looking away.
- Choose Show next block to advance through the route one labelled square at a time. The route starts at a span of three and later routes extend through spans of four, five, six, and seven.
- After the final block is shown, the board becomes active. Tap or click each labelled square in the order you saw them. If you prefer a keyboard, press the matching 1 through 9 key for each location.
- Read the result as a private game route. A correct full sequence adds points based on its span and unlocks the next fixed span; an incorrect full sequence returns you to the same span so you can see which part of the route you attempted again.
- Two incorrect full answers end that local run and leave the board frozen until you press Restart, which begins the same transparent fixed route again from the start.
Reading Your Private Corsi Run
When the run ends, the page shows your score and a best-score marker for that browser. That marker is stored only in your local browser storage, it is not posted to an online leaderboard, and it is not sent to Lizely. Restart clears the current run and starts the same product-authored route over so you can compare attempts under identical rules. Familiarity with the board, interruptions mid-run, the input device you choose, and the size of your window can all change how a route feels, which is one reason the product description is explicit that a private round should stay a private round.
If you want to compare two attempts under slightly different conditions, the cleanest comparison is to leave the direction unchanged and replay the route. Two forward runs at the same span, separated by a short break, give a more like-for-like read than mixing forward and reverse attempts in a single comparison, because the rule itself is different in those two modes.
When Each Format Fits a Short Break
If you want a quiet visible-sequence activity where the route stays on screen long enough to study, the Corsi block game is the calmer of the two formats. Each highlighted block remains visible until you advance, the board is small, and the rules are simple enough to explain in one sentence. If you instead want a step-by-step judgement task where you decide on each step whether it matches a step from earlier in the stream, N-back fits that shape better, and our adaptive-vs-fixed N-back guide walks through how the two N-back route styles compare.
The two formats also make different demands on attention. A Corsi run lets you pause on each highlighted block before you advance; an N-back round delivers each step on a continuous timeline and asks for a match / no-match answer on every beat. Players who enjoy a deliberate visible sequence tend to prefer Corsi; players who enjoy a flowing stream and per-step responses tend to prefer N-back. The choice is about the kind of game you want to play, not about which one is "better."
What This Browser Game Is Not
The Corsi Block Tapping Game is an entertainment exercise, not a clinical, IQ, or cognitive assessment. It does not diagnose attention, measure intelligence, or show whether your brain has improved. The fixed board route has no population norm, health interpretation, educational score, or professional meaning; it is not a treatment, screening tool, memory evaluation, or substitute for an assessment from a qualified service. If you need support or an evaluation for school, work, health, or accessibility, this game cannot provide it. Related site games use different fixed rules, but their results should not be added together or treated as a combined profile.
The page itself reinforces those limits in its behaviour. It does not request an account, name, camera, microphone, uploaded file, or profile, and the shared game shell shows a local best-score marker only in your browser. Restart creates a fresh local playthrough with the same transparent route, and the completion rule — two incorrect full answers end that run — is deliberately game-like rather than a clinical cutoff or grade. Read the final score as a record of this local game session, nothing more.
A Practical Way to Compare the Two for Yourself
If you want a side-by-side feel rather than a written comparison, play one short Corsi run and one short N-back run back to back in the same browser tab. Use the same input device for both, leave a minute of rest between them, and write down the local score from each. Because the Corsi Block Tapping Game keeps the route fully visible until you advance and the typical N-back game delivers each step on a short timeline, the difference in pacing usually shows up immediately in how each round feels to play. That subjective read, paired with the per-round scores on each page, is the most honest comparison you can make between two different fixed-route browser games.