Quick Draw
Wait for the signal. Tap first. First to 5.
Quick Draw is a two-player reaction game in which you wait for the GO signal, then tap your half of the screen before your rival does. Tap early and your rival gets the point, and watch out for fake signals.
A silent, tense wait, then the lamp bursts into a green star and both thumbs slam down. The screen freezes on your two reaction times, in milliseconds.
Also known as Reaction time game, Fastest finger, Tap first game.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- First to 5
- Length
- About 35 to 75 seconds
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Quick Draw: quick rules
About 35 to 75 seconds at first to 5. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1Wait for the signal and keep off your half until then.
- 2When GO shows, tap your half as fast as you can.
- 3Tap early and the other player gets the point.
- 4Watch out for purple fakes: a diamond means hold still!
Play Quick Draw here
Two of you on this screen, or you against the bot. The full game is in the app.
Quick Draw rules
Each point
- Every point starts with 3, 2, 1, Steady. There's no GO in the countdown, and your half stays locked until it ends.
- Then the lamp goes dark and both halves say Wait. The wait is random every time, and nothing hints at how much is left.
- GO is a green star-burst with the word GO!, a bright chime and a strong buzz, all at the same instant for both players.
- Pause the game or open the leave dialog mid-point and that point starts again with a fresh countdown and a new wait, so nobody can learn the timing.
Winning a point
- The first touch in your half after GO wins the point. It counts the moment your finger lands, not when you lift.
- Times are measured from the moment GO actually appears on screen, using the touch screen's own timing, so a dropped frame can't change who was faster.
- The reveal shows both reaction times and how much faster the winner was. A player who never taps shows “No tap”.
- If nobody taps for about three seconds after GO, it's “Too slow!” and the point is replayed. Three in a row pause the match.
False starts and fakes
- Touch your half before GO and it's a false start: “Too early!”, and the other player gets the point.
- A finger already resting on the screen when the wait begins doesn't count. Lift it and tap again.
- From the third point, a fake may flash: a purple hollow diamond with the word Hold. Touching during a fake is a false start too.
- If both players jump the gun at almost the same instant, nobody is penalised and the point is replayed.
Photo finishes and winning
- Two taps too close to split are a photo finish: “Too close!”, no score, and the point is replayed after a new wait.
- After two photo finishes in a row, the next close call goes to whoever was earlier, however slightly.
- First to the target wins: 3, 5 or 7 points. There are no draws and no tie-break.
Tips to win at Quick Draw
- 1Rest your finger just above your half, not on it. A finger already touching when the wait begins doesn't count, and lifting it costs time.
- 2Don't guess the timing. The wait is random every point, so anticipating GO is how false starts happen.
- 3Watch for the shape, not just the colour: GO is a filled green star, a fake is a hollow purple diamond.
- 4Tap anywhere in your half. Aiming wastes milliseconds, and the tap counts the instant your finger lands.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- Your whole half is your tap zone. Where you tap in it doesn't matter.
- A tap counts on touch-down, the instant your finger lands.
- Only your first tap of a point counts; extra fingers after it are ignored.
- The strip along the middle line, the very edges of the screen and a resting palm never count as taps.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Points to win | 35 (default)7 | The score that wins the match. |
| Fake-outs | OffOn (default) | Turns the purple decoy flashes on or off; when on, they can appear from the third point. |
Play Quick Draw against the bot
The bot plays Blue and never knows when GO will come or whether a fake is planned. It sees only what you see: when GO appears, it reacts after a human-like delay, and it follows the same false-start rules as you.
Easy
Slow to react, sometimes jumps the gun early in the wait, and now and then bites on a fake.
Normal
Quick off the mark, but occasionally jumps the gun.
Hard
Fast and never jumps, but its speed is human, so a sharp player can match it point for point.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- One phone onlyQuick Draw is decided in thousandths of a second, so internet delay would pick the winner; it stays on one phone.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it is always first to 5 with fake-outs on, whatever your saved options.
- Hints
- No hints here: it's all about your own reactions.
Coming soon
- Share your reaction time. A card of the reveal, with both reaction times, to share from the result.
How it feels
- The countdown is four low beeps ending on Steady, so nothing in it sounds like GO.
- A silent wait with a faint low hum, then a bright rising chime and a strong buzz on GO.
- The winning tap freezes the frame, floods the winner's half with colour and shows both times side by side.
- A false start gets a sad buzz, a clay cross on the lamp and a shake of the offender's half; a photo finish gets a camera-shutter click.
Accessibility
- Colour is never the only cue: GO is a filled star-burst with the word GO!, a fake is a hollow diamond with Hold, and each has its own sound and vibration.
- One tap with any finger, and your zone is half the screen.
- With reduced motion on, the star appears without its burst and nothing shakes; the freeze frame and times are unchanged.
- Every cue is shown on screen as well as heard, so it plays with the sound off. It relies on seeing the signal, so it can't be played with a screen reader.
Quick Draw questions
It's a false start: “Too early!”, and the other player gets the point. Touching during a purple fake counts as a false start too.
No. Taps too close to split are a photo finish and the point is replayed; after two in a row, the next close call goes to whoever was earlier.
Most people react to a visual signal in roughly 200 to 300 milliseconds. Quick Draw shows both players' times after every point, so you can see how you compare.
Yes. Quick Draw in Duo Clash is built for two players on the same phone. Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
Yes. The bot plays Blue and never knows when GO will come or whether a fake is planned. Choose Easy, Normal or Hard.
No. Quick Draw is decided in thousandths of a second, so internet delay would pick the winner; it stays on one phone.
Play Quick Draw on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
