Find the Ball

The oldest trick in the book, on your screen

Find the Ball is the cup-and-ball game you have watched a street performer play a hundred times — three cups, one ball, and a shuffle that is always a little faster than your eyes. Here there is no sleight of hand and nothing is rigged: the ball really is under the cup you saw it go under. All you have to do is keep track of it.

How a round works

A ball drops under one cup, the cups slide over one another for a few seconds, and then they stop and wait. Pick the right cup and you move on with your streak intact. Pick wrong and you lose a life — three mistakes and the run is over. Nothing is hidden from you, which is what makes losing so annoying and starting again so easy.

It gets harder than it looks

The first levels are gentle: three cups, a slow shuffle, plenty of time. Keep going and more cups join, the swaps come faster, and two cups start moving at once so you cannot simply follow one with your eyes. Across 100 levels the game quietly stops being about watching and starts being about holding a position in your head — which is a very different kind of concentration.

Ten themes, one habit

Ten visual themes change the cups and the table without changing the rules, so you can play the version that suits your mood. Your best score, furthest level and total games are kept in your own browser, so progress is still there when you come back. It runs free in any modern browser on a phone, a tablet or a desktop — no download, no account, and a round takes about a minute, which makes it an easy thing to reach for while you are waiting for something else.