Reading the colours: which finger presses which key

Every key on the keyboard belongs to exactly one finger. The colours in the game make that rule visible.

One finger, one column

Imagine the keyboard sliced into slanted columns. Each finger owns a column and only ever presses keys inside it. The little fingers get the outer columns (and a few extras like Shift and Enter), the ring and middle fingers get one column each, and the two index fingers each cover two columns because they are the strongest and most nimble. The thumbs share the space bar.

In Typing with Mog, every key is tinted with its finger's colour and both hands are drawn below the keyboard in matching colours. When the next character appears, the correct finger lifts and glows, and its key pulses. You never have to remember the rule; you just follow the light until it becomes automatic.

The map

• Left little finger: ` 1 Q A Z, Tab, Caps Lock and the left Shift.
• Left ring finger: 2 W S X
• Left middle finger: 3 E D C
• Left index finger: 4 5 R T F G V B
• Right index finger: 6 7 Y U H J N M
• Right middle finger: 8 I K ,
• Right ring finger: 9 O L .
• Right little finger: 0 - = P [ ] \ ; ' /, Enter, Backspace and the right Shift.
• Thumbs: the space bar.

Capital letters and the Shift rule

To type a capital letter or a symbol like ! or ?, you hold Shift with one hand and press the key with the other. The rule is simple: use the Shift on the opposite side from the key. A capital T is pressed by the left index finger, so the right little finger holds Shift. When this happens in the game you'll see two fingers light up at once, and the Shift finger is drawn with a dashed outline.

Enter and the space bar

Enter belongs to the right little finger; it reaches sideways from the ; key. The space bar is pressed by a thumb, whichever one is more comfortable. Most people settle on one thumb and stick with it.

Why bother? Using the "wrong" finger works fine for one key. But every wrong finger drags your hand out of position, so the next key is a little harder to find, and the one after that harder still. Fixed fingering is what lets your hands stay still while only your fingers move.

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