A Colour-Comparison Quiz for Visual Puzzle Fans

Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Quiz: How Well Do You Know Your Colours?

Ten colour puzzles using swatches and colour facts: mixing, matching and spotting small differences. Screens vary, so take your time.

Three of these swatches are identical. Which one is different?
Swatch D is a lighter, brighter green than the other three.
Mixing blue and yellow paint gives you…
Blue and yellow are primaries in traditional paint mixing and combine to make green.
Mixing red and white paint gives you…
Adding white to a colour creates a lighter tint; red plus white makes pink.
On the traditional painter's colour wheel, what is the complementary (opposite) colour of blue?
In the red-yellow-blue wheel, blue sits opposite orange.
What colour does the hex code #FF0000 display?
Hex codes list red, green and blue; FF0000 is full red with no green or blue.
When red and green light (not paint) overlap on a screen, which colour do you see?
Light mixes additively, and red plus green light makes yellow.
Which of these is generally called a "warm" colour?
Reds, oranges and yellows are called warm colours; blues and greens are cool.
Which swatch is the lightest?
Swatch C contains the most white and is the lightest tint of the purple family.
Adding black to a colour creates a…
A shade is a colour darkened with black; a tint adds white, and a tone adds grey.
What colour does the hex code #808080 display?
Equal amounts of red, green and blue at half strength produce a medium grey.

Colour explorer

Colour is full of surprises, from paint mixing to screen pixels. Read the explanations and try again; your eye will sharpen quickly.

Colour enthusiast

You have a good feel for colour. A few tricky mixes caught you, but the basics are clearly there.

Colour connoisseur

Great eye! You understand how colours mix, contrast and compare.

Master of the palette

A perfect score. You could paint with all the colours of the wind.

Colour comparisons reward a second look

A colour puzzle can ask you to notice a small difference that becomes clearer when neighbouring patches are compared. The experience also depends on the image and the screen displaying it, so a score cannot establish a fixed level of intelligence. Try explaining which visual cue led to an answer: a shift in brightness, saturation or hue. That makes the game more engaging than accepting a flattering label at the end.

For a pattern that changes with a second look, explore the Coffer Illusion.

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