Freudian Slip is a quick, infuriatingly addictive game with a fun extra non-game feature.

The Rules

The rules are very simple. The playing area starts off blacked out, except for one corner where there's an invitation to click to start the game. When you do, the blackout is removed to reveal a multi-coloured column on the left and a multi-coloured mosaic on the right, looking something like this:

The order of the coloured tiles are randomised at the start of each game, so your screen won't necessarily look quite the same as this, but it'll be similar.

The idea is that the column on the left displays the colours you are allowed to pick from the mosaic on the right. In our example, the colours are: cyan, green, blue, grey, khaki, pink. Every game will start off with these six colours in its column, but they won't necessarily be in that order.

OK, so at this point you can click on any tile from the mosaic on the right, so long as it's one of the six colours. You'll score more points by picking tiles of colours from higher up the column, though, so it's usually best to aim for the one at the top. The faster you click on a tile, the better, so you shouldn't hang around!

Let's suppose you did go for the colour at the top of the column, and clicked on the cyan tile three across and two down (marked "proud"). The moment you do so, the screen changes in three ways:

1. The colours in the column are replaced by a new set of colours.
2. The tile you clicked on is replaced by a new tile.
3. Two tiles swap positions.

In our example, the screen might now look like this:

1. The column only has one colour in it now: green.
2. The blue "proud" has been replaced by a blue "I".
3. The cyan "boring" seventh down in the first column has been swapped with the (other) blue "I" second down in the fourth column.

So, you click on a tile to match a colour as high up the left column as you can (but don't click on the column itself!), another set of colours is presented, and you carry on clicking one of whatever it asks for until it stops. The last colour is always dark blue, so you can tell when the game is about to finish.

Scoring

Scoring is in two parts. You get 10 points for clicking on a tile the same colour as the top of the column, 9 points for clicking on one the same colour as the second in the column, and so on. However, your total is adjusted by how long it takes you to complete the game. You get one second per tile, so if it took you 15 seconds to complete 10 tiles then your final score would be two thirds (10/15) of what it would have been if you'd done it in 10 seconds. If you did it in 8 seconds, your score would be one and a quarter (10/8) times what it would have been before, although it can never exceed 100%. It's quite a challenge to average a second or less between clicks, so don't get all cocky...

Sometimes no tile of the top colour (usually brown) is present. If that happens, you'll have to go for another colour and hope you can make up the lost points by finishing quicker. Very occasionally, only one colour is requested (usually green) and there are no tiles that colour left. When this happens, you can't win - in fact you can't even finish. Click the back button and mutter something to yourself about how stupid long sequences oughtn't to be allowed...

You win if you get 100%. It's very hard, but is possible (I've done it myself - my mouse mat has the scars to prove it!). Anything over 95% is pretty good, but of course you really want to get 100%, don't you..?

Technical Notes

The first time you play Freudian Slip, it may take a while to download the graphics file it needs before it can begin (depending on the bandwidth available to you). Once it starts, though, it's very fast; it will remain so until you update its window (the graphics file is not cached - blame IE, not me...).

You do need to have JavaScript activated to play the game. Not Java, JavaScript. Modern browsers all support it, but people don't always have it turned on. A quick check of your set-up indicates that you'll have problems...

Oh Yes, the Words...

The observant among you will have noticed that the tiles in the mosaic all have words written on them. When a game finishes, as well as your score you'll be given a sentence composed of the words written on the tiles you selected, in the order you clicked on them.

The time constraint makes it harder to win if you read the words on the tiles before you click on them. You can recognise the colour of a tile and get your mouse to it quickly, but if you actually read it, well, it'll slow you down.

However...

Your subconscious mind probably will read it - it just won't have time to tell you before you're off clicking on something else. Furthermore, there are usually several choices in the mosaic for the colours requested. You can pick any one of the tiles, but you actually do get to select only one. On what do you base your decision? Does your subconscious mind perhaps have anything to do with it?

I don't suppose that many people will read anything into sentences like "Four transparent nights forcefully inflame his compliant perfumes using our youngest packets.", but occasionally you get things like "Most men oppose my ideas." and then you've got to wonder...

Play Freudian Slip.