Word List Marathon — free online memory game
About this game
One long list of words, one clock, and then the recall: type every word you remember, in any order. Free recall is psychology's favorite memory measure — and the error patterns it reveals are fascinating.
How to play Word List Marathon
- 1Study the word sheet until time runs out, or leave early.
- 2Type the words you remember — any order counts, one at a time.
- 3Score = your words that were on the sheet (spelling counts, case doesn't).
What Word List Marathon trains
Free recall shows the serial position effect in your own data: you will remember the first words (primacy) and the last words (recency) far better than the middle. The trained approach is story-weaving — link consecutive words into a running narrative — which pulls middle items back from the dead zone. That same weaving skill saves shopping lists and to-do lists daily.
Category: Memory sports · Scoring: Words in words · Modes: 25 words, 50 words, 100 words
Tip: Weave the words into a running story as you read — the weirder the story, the stickier it holds.
What is free recall?
Recalling items from a list in any order, without cues — the classic laboratory measure of verbal memory. Because there are no hints, every word you type came from genuine storage, making it a brutally honest test.
How many words can people remember from a list?
From a 25-word list, untrained adults typically recall 12–18. With story-weaving, 20+ is common. From 50 words, expect 20–30 untrained — watch your recall cluster at the list's start and end.
Is Word List Marathon free?
Yes — Word List Marathon is completely free, with no account, no signup and no downloads. Scores are saved privately in your browser, and you can install MemoryGames as an app from your browser menu if you want it on your home screen.
Learn the technique behind it: Memory Palace guide