the rhyme game Play now

play the
rhyme game

A 1980s boombox with twin cassette decks and red-rimmed speakers, printed in black and blue halftone
time

One bar at 90 BPM. The rhyme sits on beat four. Tap for a new word.

Free in your browser, no sign-up. A beat plays, a ball bounces on every beat, and the rhyme lands on four. You rap the rest.

Play now

play a round

Set it up, press Start, and keep talking until the beat stops. Space starts and pauses, Escape stops.

Press Start, then follow the ball.

  1. day
  2. play
  3. night
  4. light

Level
Help
Rhyme scheme
Length
Words
Beat

  1. First, pick a beat.

    Any speed from 70 to 160 BPM. The drums are made in your browser, so every tempo works.

  2. Then follow the ball.

    It bounces on every beat, four to a bar. The rhyme word waits at the end of each bar.

  3. Say anything until the word.

    Your day, the room, a joke. It doesn’t have to be good. It has to be on time.

  4. Land it on four.

    Hit the rhyme on the fourth beat. That’s one bar of freestyle, and you just rapped it.

One round in 15 seconds: count in, follow the ball, land the rhyme on four.

what you can change

Help
All words, first only, last only or none. Take the help away as you get better.
Rhyme scheme
AABB couplets, ABAB, or AAAA: four bars on one sound.
Tempo
Slide from 70 to 160 BPM, or tap along to any song you’re hearing.
Length
8, 16 or 32 bars, or endless until you stop.
Words
Everyday words, rap words, multisyllables, or a list you type in.
Topic
A random subject on screen for when your mind goes blank.
Streak
Rap 8 bars a day to keep it. Saved on your device, no account.

off thetop

A fist holding a microphone up against a flat blue background

“Off the top” is what rappers call a verse they never wrote down. It comes out as the beat plays. That’s the whole game: no pen, no pad, just the next bar.

Start at warm-up

learn

Start freestyling
Find rhymes
Bars and beats
When you blank
About the game
A New York subway platform at night, a train with red graffiti standing with its doors open
A New York subway platform, where the first graffiti writers painted. Hip-hop started a few miles north, in the Bronx.

the blog

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questions

An elevated subway train covered in red and white graffiti crossing a bridge under a blue sky, a water tower behind

Is it free?

Yes, all of it. Every beat, level and tool is free, and you don’t need an account. Ads on the page pay for the site.

Do I need to download anything?

No. It runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or laptop. On a phone you can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app.

Does it listen to me or record my voice?

No. The game never turns on your microphone. You rap out loud and nobody hears it unless you want them to.

I keep going blank. What do I do?

Turn the help up to All words and drop the tempo to about 85 BPM. If you blank in the middle of a round, say your last line again. It buys you a whole bar.

What tempo should I start with?

85 to 95 BPM. It’s a relaxed, classic hip-hop speed with room to think. Go faster once 16 bars at that speed feel easy.

Can I rap over my own music?

Yes. Set the beat to Silent and use Tap tempo: tap along to any song for a few beats and the ball and the rhyme words follow its speed.

What does “off the top” mean?

It’s rap slang for a freestyle: a verse made up on the spot, straight off the top of your head, not written down first.