Pattern Next: free number sequence and pattern game

What is Pattern Next?

Fourteen rows of numbers or shapes. Find the rule (same step, same factor, add the two before, alternating or growing steps, shape cycles, a turning arrow) and pick what comes next. Every row is checked to have one clear answer.

Pattern Next is a free sequence puzzle game. Each round shows a row of numbers or shapes and asks what comes next. Number rows follow a same step, a same factor, a Fibonacci-like sum of the two before, alternating steps or a step that grows; shape rows cycle shapes and colours or turn an arrow by a fixed angle.

Every row is checked by a solver that tries all of these rules: each rule that fits the row must give the same next item, so there's never a second answer that also makes sense. After you choose, the rule is explained in one line, and the level follows your answers.

At a glance

Category

IQMaxxing

Difficulty

Easy

Play time

2–4 min

Price

Free, in your browser, sign-up optional

How to play

Read the row

Look at how each item changes into the next one.

Pick what's next

Choose the option that replaces the question mark. Keys 1 to 4 work too.

Climb levels

Two right in a row moves you up a level, a miss moves you down one.

Learn

Each answer comes with the rule, in one line.

Scoring

Each right answer scores 10 × the level it was played at. A run is 14 rows.

Two right in a row moves you up a level (up to 8), a miss moves you down one. Higher levels bring Fibonacci-like, alternating and growing-step rows.

What it trains

Inductive reasoning

Spotting a rule from a few examples.

Number sense

Seeing steps, factors and sums at a glance.

Visual patterns

Finding cycles in shapes and colours, and a turning arrow.

Strategy and tips

Look at the gaps

Write the differences between neighbours. A steady gap is a same-step row.

Then the ratios

If the gaps grow fast, try dividing: 3, 6, 12, 24 doubles each time.

Add the two before

If each number is the sum of the two before it, it's a Fibonacci-like row.

Check every other item

Alternating rows hide two simple patterns in one.

Shapes repeat

Find where the row starts again, for shapes and colours separately.

Why play Pattern Next?

Spotting a rule from a few examples is how we learn most things, from grammar to spreadsheets. Short sequence puzzles practise that habit; the game shows a progress score and a level, not a measure of intelligence.

Frequently asked questions