Play TypeRacer in Your Browser

TypeRacer background

TypeRacer was created by programmer Alex Epshteyn and launched in March 2008. He built it with the Google Web Toolkit, and its early versions also used the OpenSocial API to run inside social networks. Epshteyn has said the idea came from learning touch typing with a Windows shareware program that had no way to compete against other people.

PC Magazine included TypeRacer in its list of the Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites of 2008, and the game describes itself as the first multiplayer typing game on the web. It is still run by Epshteyn's company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The passages players type are quotes taken from books, films, songs and other sources.

How to play TypeRacer

Each race shows a short quote and a row of cars, one for each player. As you type the passage correctly, your car moves along the track; mistakes are highlighted and must be corrected before you can continue, so accuracy matters as much as raw speed. When the race ends you see your speed in words per minute, your accuracy and your finishing position, along with the source of the quote. Besides public races against random opponents, you can practise alone or create a private race track to compete with friends.

1. Open play.typeracer.com; JavaScript must be enabled.
2. Choose to enter a public race, practise on your own, or race friends on a private track.
3. When the countdown ends, type the quote shown, fixing any highlighted errors as you go.
4. Check your words-per-minute and accuracy at the end, then start another race.