The Color Game is designed to be a fun and educational tool that challenges your ability to perceive differences in color. The game is divided into three levels, each increasing in difficulty and complexity determined by the physical inputs players must use to adjust their color to match the target. Each level consists of 5 rounds, challenging players to match a target color associated with a brand.
The color game uses a dataset of brand color values in RGBandHSL. These color values are used to display the target color in a fixed rectangle that the player must use as a reference to match against.
In Level One, the player uses a single slider control that adjusts the Hue for the input color, with the slider range limited to ±60° of the target color.
This level is simplified further by automatically adjusting the Saturation and Lightness value of the input color, allowing the player to focus on matching only the Hue value.
But when it comes time to evaluate their guess, the game logic uses the simple difference between the input and target HSL values to calculate the score for that round.
In Level Two of the game, the difficulty increases slightly as the player must attempt to guess the target brand color by using a color wheel control. Similar to Level One, the brightness/luminosity for the given target color is automatically adjusted in the color wheel control to allow the player to focus purely on approximating the Hue and Saturation.
The input color is converted from HSL to RGB, and then the input color and target color RGB values are converted to Lab to perform the ∆E 2000 calculation and return the score.
In Level Three, the final level of the color game, the player must use the color wheel control and a luminosity slider in order to approximate the target color value.
This is the most difficult level in the game, as the player has full control over the input color with no guardrails.
The input color is again converted to RGB, and converted to Lab along with the target brand color to measure the difference using the ∆E 2000 formula.
Delta E ∆E is a measure of the difference between two colors. The lower the ΔE value, the closer the colors are to each other. The human eye can recognize subtle differences in color, often as low as a ∆E of 2.0.
ΔE of 1.0 is generally considered the smallest color difference the human eye can detect. Because of this, the printing industry often aims for a ΔE of 2.0 or less for color-critical work, as small differences in color can influence consumer decisions. There are several formulas that exist for calculating ΔE, with ∆E 2000 being the current industry standard due to its improved accuracy in representing human color perception.
In order to calculate the ∆E between two colors, the measured values must be converted into Lab color space to allow for uniform calculation.
Although certain monitors and screens use different color gamut standards, the calibration of the display does not contribute to the player's ability to make accurate guesses.
Why? Since the reference color and user's input color are displayed in the same screen/colorspace, the mechanics of the game rely on the player's perception. This is much different than comparing two different color sources (e.g. physically printed color vs. color displayed on a digital screen).
When it comes to the Color Game, some digital displays do offer more expansive color gamuts, which can assist in making accurate guesses on some of the more challenging colors.
Ever wonder why brands are so obsessed with getting their colors exactly right? Imagine walking down the cereal aisle and not recognizing your favorite box because the colors look "off". Innacuracy in brand packaging color can even occasionaly lead consumers to assume product is dated or expired. Accurate color measurement isn't just about looking pretty - it's a crucial factor in brand recognition, consumer trust, and ultimately, sales.
Think about iconic brands like Coca-Cola red or Tiffany blue - these colors are so recognizable that they're actually trademarked! When a brand prints packaging across different materials, printers, and even continents, maintaining consistent color is a complex challenge that requires precise measurement and quality control.
For printers, color accuracy isn't just about meeting client expectations - it's about avoiding costly reprints, reducing waste, and maintaining their reputation for quality. A difference of just a few ∆E units can mean the difference between a happy client and a rejected print run.
Techkon USA has been at the forefront of color measurement technology for over 40 years. Our innovative solutions, including the SpectroDens spectrophotometer and ChromaQA color quality software, are chosen by leading press manufacturers, brand owners, and commercial printers worldwide.
To learn more about color science and Techkon's solutions: