Xylo Quest

Xylo Quest is a melody memory game and a gentle music workout for your brain. A friendly bird hops along a rainbow xylophone and sings a short phrase: every bar she lands on lights up and chimes, and a bouncing beat ball keeps time on a little song sheet above. Then it is your turn to play it back. Each round the phrase grows by one note and the rhythm changes, and your notes are judged against the beat with generous timing windows. A wrong note is never a failure: the bird says almost and sings the phrase again.

Thirty levels lead through four lands, Whistle Forest, Seashell Beach, Snowdrop Hills and Lullaby Moon, and the tempo rises as you travel. Phrases start at two notes and grow to nine, and the rhythms move from steady steps to quick pairs, dotted notes and offbeats. Every level gives a star for finishing, a second for a strong score and a third for a near-perfect one, which comes from needing few replays and keeping the rhythm; stars and best scores are saved on your device. Long Song is the endless mode: one melody keeps growing note by note while the tempo creeps up, and three feathers decide how far you get, so there is always a high score to chase. Free play turns the xylophone into an instrument with a metronome and a recorder, perfect to relax and make up your own tunes.

Tap the bars on a phone or tablet, or play them with the keys 1 to 8 or A S D F G H J K. Space hears the phrase again, P pauses and M mutes. All the music is made in your browser, a warm mallet tone over a soft pad and a brush beat, and every note also lights its bar on the beat, so you can play with the sound off. Levels are quick, about a minute each, and an optional timing check tunes how your taps are judged.