Typing Games Are Cool Again Thanks To Wildly Unexpected Twists

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While keyboards have many keys, gamers primarily use four: W, A, S, and D. Some complex games like StarCraft and League of Legends use more, but most games stick to a few basic keys. This is largely because players usually control the game with one hand on the mouse and the other on the keyboard, making many keys difficult to reach. Trying to use both hands on the keyboard just isn’t practical for gaming.

Typing games have been around for a long time, originally created as a way to teach kids how to use a keyboard. Many people who grew up in the 80s and 90s remember playing them in school, like Typer Shark or Mavis Beacon. As computers became more common in homes, schools stopped needing dedicated computer labs – and the demand for these educational typing games decreased. However, typing games are now making a comeback, borrowing ideas from those older educational games but with a fresh, modern approach.

Released in 1987 by Software Toolworks, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is considered the most iconic typing game of all time. While not the very first, it was one of the earliest and remains the most well-known. Mavis Beacon herself has become synonymous with learning to type, and is still recognized as the face of the typing genre today.

According to developer Michael Duffy, a key to the popularity of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing was the feeling that a world-class typing instructor was personally guiding and correcting you. Duffy explained that they successfully applied lessons learned from their Chessmaster game – using appealing graphics and music – to make the repetitive practice of learning to type more enjoyable. The on-screen hands demonstrating proper finger placement were also a groundbreaking feature for their time, helping people learn to type without looking at their hands. Ultimately, though, the engaging persona of Mavis Beacon herself was a major attraction for players.

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing wasn’t just a typing program—it included fun games like Road Race, Space Junk, and Ragtime. While each game involved typing scrolling text, they offered unique twists. In Road Race, typing quickly made the text speed up. Space Junk let you shoot more objects with accurate typing. And Ragtime challenged you to type in time with a metronome. These small details—how your typing directly affected the game—made them enjoyable, and that same focus on responsive, engaging typing is still what makes a good typing game today.

Z-Type is a fast-paced typing game created by Dominic Szablewski in just one week. The game is popular because you instantly see the results of your typing. Players control a spaceship and shoot down enemy ships by typing the letters displayed on them. Each round gets harder with more enemies approaching faster. Instead of using buttons, you fire by typing the first letter of a word on each enemy ship. Successfully typing out words – like ‘condescending’ – triggers explosions and helps you survive. It’s a classic arcade-style space shooter with a unique typing twist!

“There’s just something satisfying about shooting and watching things explode,” Szablewski explained. “To really make it feel good, the timing, sound, and visuals all need to be perfect. I spent a long time tweaking those elements until I got it right. It’s hard to describe, but when the core gameplay loop feels solid, everything just falls into place.”

He explained that he enjoys games that are simple to pick up but challenging to become truly skilled at. He described how, with practice, these games can be so engaging that you lose yourself in the experience, and actions become automatic and effortless. He believes Z-Type excels at creating this immersive and satisfying feeling – it’s incredibly rewarding to improve at the game.

I’m so hyped for this new game, Keys of Fury! The developer, Mike Smith from Elecom, told TopMob he really wanted to create a typing game that was just unbelievably cool and exciting. And honestly, from what I’ve heard, he’s totally on track to deliver!

Smith’s Keys of Fury, recently showcased in the Steam Next Fest, represents a new wave of typing games building on the legacy of titles like Mavis Beacon and Z-Type, and more modern hits like Nanotale and Keyboard Sports. Developers are innovating within the genre, often mixing typing with other game types to create unique experiences. For example, Keys of Fury turns typing into fast-paced combat, while Touch Type Tale combines typing with real-time strategy. Blood Typers uses typing in a survival horror setting, and Glyphica: Typing Survival lets you defeat enemies with typing in roguelite rounds – think of a more intense Z-Type. Rounding out the festival, Final Sentence topped the charts by combining the battle royale format with typing gameplay.

The keyboard isn’t simply a way to control the game; it’s a core part of the experience. According to Smith, the goal was to make each keypress feel impactful and rewarding, similar to the satisfying feeling of pressing a button on a game controller. He wanted every action to feel immediate, with a clear attack and accompanying sound effect.

Keyboards are crucial for many PC games, so it’s natural to see typing become a gameplay element in different genres. Malte Hoffman, from the German studio Pumpernickle, who created the 2024 game Touch Type Tale, realized that real-time strategy (RTS) games were a good fit for this idea. RTS games like Starcraft 2 already rely heavily on keyboard shortcuts. This led the Pumpernickle team to wonder if they could create an RTS game played entirely with the keyboard – no mouse needed, not even for navigating menus.

Many older typing games emphasize speed, but in Touch Type Tale, accuracy is more crucial. According to Hoffman, while typing quickly is helpful to a point, it doesn’t offer much benefit beyond that. He explains that our brains can’t keep up when we prioritize speed over correctness because we’re too busy making decisions. He believes a truly good typing game should offer more than just a speed challenge.

Final Sentence, a game from Button Mash, emphasizes both speed and accuracy in typing. It’s a battle royale where only one player can win, and the game has a unique and intense setup. Players enter a dark room equipped with a typewriter and face a gunman who eliminates those who make too many errors. However, typing too slowly is just as deadly. The game became incredibly popular during the Steam Next Fest, so the developer, Dmitry Minsky, spent the entire event adding servers to handle the increased demand.

Okay, so playing this game actually reminded me of those old Mavis Beacon typing games, but with a really unique twist – you’ve got a gun! The creator, Minsky, realized a lot of people are into typing games like MonkeyType and TypeRacer, where you push to improve your words per minute. But those games usually let you hit backspace and easily correct errors. This one is different. Minsky explained that the pressure is intense – you’re constantly stressed because you can’t fix mistakes. It really ramps up the tension!

Blood Typers, a survival horror game created by the four-person team at Outer Brain Studios, delivers intense, cooperative gameplay. Released in February with a recent update in October, it takes inspiration from the classic Typing of the Dead, but offers a more frantic and unpredictable experience. Just like in that older game, the pressure is on – you have to type quickly to survive the approaching zombie horde!

Dmitry Pirag, the creator of Blood Typers, explained to TopMob that typing, surprisingly, is a very physical act. He believes this physicality enhances the horror experience, making it more immersive because players directly control every action with skill. It really puts you in the game!

Pirag explained that Blood Typers offers adjustable difficulty settings. Players can choose options that make the typing sections easier – allowing more time to find the correct keys – or increase the intensity of the game’s horror aspects for a different kind of challenge.

I think the developer of Gylphica: Typing Survival, Xuanming Zhou, hit the nail on the head when he said a game’s mechanics shouldn’t distract you from actually playing. No matter how cool a game tries to be, if it doesn’t let you just… well, play, it’s not going to work. That’s why Gylphica is so good – the typing and the roguelite elements actually complement each other. He explained it perfectly: the typing is how you control the game, and the roguelite stuff is how you progress. They don’t get in each other’s way at all!

According to Zhou, Glyphica is designed to be unobtrusive, prioritizing the player’s ability to type freely. Its roguelike progression system supports this by naturally aligning with typing-based gameplay, unlike other genres where complex controls could interfere.

Glyphica: Typing Survival plays a bit like the classic game Z-Type – you control a turret and shoot down enemies approaching from the center of the screen. Instead of buttons, you type the word displayed on each enemy to destroy it, and you need to be quick before they reach you! Glyphica adds a new twist with roguelite features like upgrades, loot, and powerful weapons that help you handle increasingly difficult waves. It’s a fast-paced game that combines typing skill with the unpredictable nature of roguelite upgrades, creating a thrilling and tense experience.

New typing games are taking inspiration from classic titles, building on a foundation that could change how we think about keyboards. Instead of just being a tool, the keyboard itself may become part of the gameplay. According to Zhou, we’re seeing a revival of the genre. Recent successes have proven there’s an audience for these games, which is encouraging developers to take creative risks and explore new ideas.

Typing games haven’t become hugely popular, and might not ever. While keyboard typing used to be everywhere, many people now type mostly on phones and tablets. However, there’s still a group of people who fondly remember and enjoy using a physical keyboard, and that’s a valuable audience.

According to Touch Type Tale developer Hoffman, all these games share a common thread: the simple pleasure of typing. He believes typing is inherently satisfying and offers a unique way to engage with games. He sees a lot of potential in using typing as a core gameplay mechanic and exploring what’s possible with this input method.

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2025-11-01 00:11