The faster you can type, the faster you can get things done in the digital world. For some of you it may simply mean responding to E-mail & tweets faster, while for others the difference between 30 wpm and 70 wpm could quite literally mean landing that new job or heading back to the unemployment line. No matter your reason for wanting to improve your typing – You’ve come to the right place. The post is broken up into 3 main sections – technique, games/practice & finally testing.
A Quick Word On Proper Technique
If you are serious about improving your typing speed – you first need to have a solid foundation. If you already know where the “home row” is on your keyboard and don’t need to look at the keybaord to type, feel free to skip this section and go straight to the games and typing speed tests. For the rest of you, we’ll need to take a quick detour to learn the basics.
Below are 3 of my favorite Free Resources for learning the essentials.
Once you are comfortable with the basics, I encourage you to migrate from the rigid structured lessons from above and have a bit of fun while learning by trying some of the fun typing games below. It will help break up the monotony and keep you focused by adding a bit of variety and challenge to the mix.
Legend:
CPM = characters per min.
WPM = words per min.
CPM > WPM = Typically WPM translates roughly into 1/5 of CPM. (ex. 250 CPM = 50 WPM )
Lets Play Some Games…
I’ve scoured the internet to find games of varying difficulty that are both engaging and that will challenge you to become a better typist! Learn to type faster while defeating ninjas, zombies or simply racing the clock.
What follows is a quick list of my top 10 favorite typing games
Rating: [usr 3.6]
Cost: Free
Everything is more fun with Ninjas, why not typing?
Ward off an onslaught of invading ninjas by typing 4 letter words to defeat each one. Any ninjas that get passed you will take a chunk out of your health bar – so type fast and don’t forget to use your special powers when your rage bar fills up! ( 1,2,3 number keys )
Rating: [usr 3.4]
Cost: Free
Type as many words as you can before 30 seconds is up!
For every 10 words you get correct you will receive additional time on the clock. But be careful, for everyone word you enter incorrectly – you will be penalized 1 second!
Rating: [usr 3.2]
Cost: Free
Type Racer automatically matches you up with several opponents in a race to see who can type the fastest.
Type Racer also tracks your WPM, so you can easily track your personal progress. A nice alternative to the other typing race game on this list if you don’t have a Facebook account.
Rating: [usr 2.7]
Cost: Free
While TypoII may not look like much – It does a good job of mixing things up & keeping you focused.
You must type the sentence on the screen before the timer runs out in order to advance to the next level and ultimately complete the challenge.
Rating: Rating: [usr 3.2]
Cost: Free
TypeDown is a rather basic game, with a simple goal. To improve your speed & accuracy.
Despite the plain appearance, it’s actually surprisingly engaging. The premise of the game is that you must continue to type the words on the screen before the column reaches the top… kind of like a typing version of Tetris.
Typing Maniac – FaceBook
Rating: [usr 3.5]
Cost: Free
I’m not sure why exactly – But I really enjoyed this game. Perhaps it was the soundtrack, or the advanced degree of difficulty – but I found it a pleasant surprise during my search.
You must type each word correctly as it scrolls down the page. Fill the stack of papers on the bottom right of the screen to advance to the next level of difficulty.
Typing Race – FaceBook
Rating: [usr 3.3]
Cost: Free
What makes this game so great, is that it is accessible, competitive and you can play with your friends.
Challenge the facebook community or your friends to see who is the ultimate typist.
Rating: [usr 3.7]
Cost: Free
Typing of the living dead is probably my favorite free game in this line-up, probably because it most closely mirrors my favorite title on this list – Typing of The Dead.
You must type to stay alive and defeat the oncoming horde of zombies through 16 progressively harder levels.
Rating: [usr 3.0]
Cost: Free
While I adore the art-style of the game, I have a few major issues with this title….
What killed the experience for me was the constant lag I endured during gameplay and the very repetative sound of gunfire. That said, with a few minor fixes – this could nearly rival the last game on our list…
Rating: [usr 4.8]
Cost: $19.99
The production value of this game is evident right from the get-go. More engaging, more fun and … well more expensive – yes.
While the price tag might scare some people off – If you love zombies and are serious about improving your typing skills – This is by far the best game on the market!
So How Fast Can You Type?
You’ve put in the time and effort and you want to test your new found skill to see how you stack up. No problem, we’ve got you covered here too.
While there are dozens of resources to test your ‘typing metal’, I personally recommend the following.
Courtesy of: Ratatype
There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, in fact I’ll kick things off by sharing my fastest WPM in the comments section below.
Feel free to share your own WPM or CPM!
83 WPM